Mom, Why did you go?
by It'sGleeFul
Summary: Santana finds Rachel crying in the park across the road from her house and finds out a lot of Rachel Berrys secrets and discovers just how damaged the girl truly is. Can Shelby help put the girl back together again.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Lonely.

Rachel was wandering around her neighbourhood, she had been for several hours now, She wasn't sure where she could go she didn't have any friends really and she didn't talk to any family other than her parents, She decided to go to the local park and sit on the swings for a little while before going back to the place she calls home, it didn't feel much like home anymore though. Rachel was so deep in thought that she didn't realise someone was approaching her in the park and only realised when the person sat on the swing next to her. When Rachel looked up she rolled her eyes and went to walk away but the person grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back down on the swing. "What? You wanna make fun of me outside of school too now?" the short brunette said as she glared at the person still holding on to her arm, "I actually was just going to ask if you were okay, You don't seem too happy sitting here on your own." The taller brunette looked in to Rachels eyes and noticed how much sadness and loneliness was in them, she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for making fun of the girl everyday since school started.

"You know what Santana, I'm not in the mood for your games, If you have a slushy or something hiding behind one of the bushes just hurry up and throw it so I can leave" Santana could see the hurt and fury in Rachels eyes as she spoke "I'm not going to slushy you, Rachel I just want to know that you're okay", for some reason Rachel believed her, "I am perfectly fine, thank you Santana" "Really Berry? because you look like you've been crying for days and you've been sat in this park for over an hour just staring in front of you" Rachel looked at Santana with skeptical expression on her face "Are you following me now?" Santana laughed and then smirked before replying "No Berry, I live in the house you've been staring at for over an hour" Rachel looked up at the tall brunette with panic in her eyes. She hadn't realised she'd been staring at a particular house for so long, "I apologise Santana, I really should be getting home now though I have been out for several hours now and my parents will be wondering where I am" Rachel knew that was a lie, Her parents never wondered where she was anymore and couldn't care less whether she returned home or not.

Santana looked at Rachels face as she was talking and noticed how her eyes were darting around as she spoke about going home "You're lying aren't you? You're parents may not know where you are but they also couldn't care less" Rachels head shot up and she stared at Santana in shock, How did she know that? Is she going to tell everyone at school?. "Dont worry Berry, I wont say anything, Maybe you could tell me whats going on though? I might be able to help" Rachel doubted it, she looked at Santana and seen the sincerity in her eyes and her own eyes started to cloud over, eventually a tear fell down Rachels cheek and then another and another. Rachel felt Santanas thumb wipe away the tears, she had never been in a situation where Santana was actually being pleasant and nice towards her, Rachel liked it.

"Come on Rach, Come back to mine and we can talk, I know I've never really been nice or friendly to you but I really wanna help and you cant sit outside all night staring at my front door, My mom and dad are out at friends tonight so it'll just be me and you. You can tell me whatever you want or you can just sit in silence its entirely up to you" Santana was looking at the tiny brunette and she somehow appeared so much smaller now, her hair was in a messy bun, her clothes were wrinkled and a little dirty and her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying she had just been doing. Santana stood up from the swing and help out her hand for Rachel to take, the brunette looked at the hand and then at Santana before placing her own tiny hand in the bigger, softer hand. "Why are you doing this? You've hated me for so long" Rachel said as she walked with Santana to her house "I don't hate you Berry, and I'm doing it because you look broken and defeated and I cant have people loitering outside my house all night, People will call the police on you" Rachel smirked and continued to walk up to Santanas front door, before walking inside Rachel turned around and hugged Santana before saying "Thank You, You don't even understand how much i need someone tonight" she then walked in to the house leaving an emotional Santana staring inside her house, it was rare for someone to thank Santana and it actually felt kinda nice, even if it was Berry.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rachel and Santana had been sat in silence in Santanas bedroom for several minutes, neither girl knew what to say to the other and that made things extremely awkward. Sure Santana wanted Rachel to open up to her and maybe even start to trust her but she knew that was unrealistic given they had only really started talking properly an hour and half ago. So they sat and stared at the floor each thinking about something different, Santana was thinking about how she could get rachel to talk and rachel was thinking about how she could even start this conversation. Eventually Rachel just started rambling.

"My dads have been gone for a month, they have left me alone for long periods of time before but only 1-2 weeks at a time, they never tell me where they are going just that they're going on a business trip or some kind of romantic get away, they've never been gone this long and I'm starting to wonder if they're even coming back this time" Rachel was still staring at the floor of Santanas bedroom, Santana however was staring at the tiny brunette sat next to her, she could see how hurt and broken Rachel was and that made Santana slightly angry at the Berry men, How could they leave their 16 year old daughter home alone for a month? Sure Santanas parents had gone away before but Santana always knew where her parents were, how she could reach them if she needed to and when they would be back and it was only ever a night or 2 at the most.

Santana continued to stare at the dark haired beauty and began rubbing circles on the girls back "Rach, how to do you get food, clothes, you know the essentials?" Rachel looked up at the taller girl and shrugged "They leave me money along with the note saying they're going away, most of the time its $200-$300 but this time they left over $600 in cash and transferred over $1000 in to my savings account" Santana didn't know what to say to that so she just nodded and continued to rub circles on Rachels back.

After several more minutes Rachel began to talk again but this time she was slightly angrier and Santana was surprised by the topic of this conversation, "I thought everything was going to be okay, She made me think that it was all going to be okay, that for once in my life I might actually be wanted by somebody but yet again I'm left in the dark with nobody there to help me out, Why did she even bother with that tape if she wasn't going to stay or save me? what was the point? none of it made any sense to me, all I've ever wanted in my life is someone to love me, hold me when I'm scared, tell me how proud they are of me. I only ever really wanted Shelby, I want a mother" Santana noticed how the girl said _want_ instead of _wanted,_ this made the girl think that maybe there was a way for her to help Rachel but she didn't voice what she was thinking because she didn't want Rachel to get hopes up or get angry at Santana for suggesting such a thing.

It wasn't long before Rachel fell asleep on Santanas bed, she had worked herself up talking about Shelby, she had become so angry and hurt that again the girl began hysterically crying and Santana had rocked her until she fell asleep. A plan was forming in Santanas devious mind, it was Friday tomorrow and that meant her plan would have to be put in to action straight away this could not wait until Monday, she needed to help Rachel sooner rather than later.

The next morning Rachel woke up with Santanas arm around her waist, she enjoy the comfort of another person for the first time in a long while before finally removing Santanas arm and getting ready to leave, she had to go home and get ready for school. She went over to Santanas desk and found a note pad and a pen, she wrote Santana a note and left it on the desk before getting her stuff and leaving.

Santana woke up to an empty bed an hour later, she looked around and panicked when she didn't see Rachel. She jumped out of bed and was about to go look in the living room and kitchen when she noticed a piece of paper sitting on her desk that she was sure wasn't there when she fell asleep, Santana picked up the paper and noticed instantly that it was Rachels handwriting on the page " _Dear Santana, Thank you for all that you did for me last night, I really appreciate it as I haven't had anyone to talk to in a while, I had to leave early as, obviously, I don't have any clothing here and I needed to get ready for school, I will totally understand if you don't talk to me whilst we're at school, I won't hold it against you, again thank you San, Love Rachel."_ Santana smiled at the nickname Rachel had used in the note, maybe they really had turned a corner now and they were finally friends.

Santana understood why Rachel would think that she wouldn't talk to her at school but what Rachel didn't know was that Santana wasn't going to school today and Rachel leaving her house early only made her plan a simpler.

As Rachel walked down the halls of McKinley High School she couldn't help but wonder where Santana was, did she feel so embarrassed about having Rachel in her house last night that she couldn't even show her face? Rachel put it to the back of her mind, she was foolish to think that they'd be friends anyway.

What Rachel wasn't aware of was the fact that Santana was currently in her car driving to Carmel High School on a mission to find one Shelby Corcoran and have a very serious conversation with the woman.

Santana pulled up in the parking lot of Carmel High around lunch time, she had timed it perfectly, Shelby would be on break and wouldn't have any excuses as to why wouldn't talk to the brunette girl. Santana got out of her car and walked towards the entrance of the school, as she walked through the double doors the receptionist looked at her with a skeptical eyebrow risen. "May I help you Miss?" Santana put on her best show smile, she had learnt from Rachel, and replied in the sweetest of voices "Can I please talk to one of your teaching staff please? A Miss Corcoran?". Again the receptionist looked skeptical, no-one ever came to visit Miss Corcoran, "And what exactly is this visit regarding? So I can let Miss Corcoran know when I ask if you may see her" Santana was starting to get a little pissed off now, "I believe that my conversation with Miss C is none of your business, now please point me towards her office or I will find it on my own" the receptionist had given up following protocol, it was obvious that this girl was not going to tell her why she wanted to see Shelby so she gave the brunette directions to Miss Corcorans office and let her go on her way.

Shelby was enjoying her lunch alone in her office, no distractions, no Vocal Adrenalin and no screaming teenagers. She really needed to do some grading but her heart wasn't in it today and she could feel a headache forming. Shelby heard a knock on her office door and sighed "Why cant these students leave me alone" she mumbled to herself before getting out of her office chair and walking towards the closed door.

What Shelby did not expect was a tall, brunette, hispanic girl with a look of determination on her face to be standing there with her arms folded across her chest "May I help you?" Shelby asked in a tone that was not particularly welcoming, "Sure you can, You're Shelby Corcoran right" Santana said with a rather condescending tone to her voice "Yes I am, and you are?" Santana smirked up at the woman that was the spitting image of Rachel Berry "My name is Santana Lopez, I got to McKinley High with your daughter, remember her? her names Rachel Berry" Santana knew she was being a bitch but its what she is best at "Well I've come to have a little conversation about that daughter of yours, theres something I think you need to be aware of and I would hope that you wasn't already aware because you are you're an even shittier person than I first thought"

Shelby was so confused, why is this girl here to talk about Rachel? and what do I need to be aware of?. She moved out of the way of the door so that Santana could enter her office and they'd have some privacy. Santana took at seat at Shelbys desk and Shelby sat in her previous seat in front of Santana. "Okay, so let me get one thing clear Miss Lopez do not talk to me in that tone or I will make you regret your actions" Santana had to admit, Miss Corcoran was a pretty intimidating person so she just shrugged and let the teacher carry on with her speech "So you know Rachel, I assume that means you know what happened a few months ago, now tell me Miss Lopez what do I need to be aware of?" her voice was low and Santana could tell that she seemed pretty concerned when she spoke about Rachel, to Santana this was a good sign.

After taking a deep breath Santana began to explain the situation to Shelby, "You see Miss C Rachel and me haven't always seen eye to eye, in fact I was never really very nice to her before yesterday when I looked out my window and noticed a small brunette in the park across the street staring at my house like a lost dog, An hour later I looked outside again and noticed that she was still sitting there so I decided to investigate. After some persuasion I managed to convince Berry that I didn't have a hidden slushy and I wasn't there to ridicule her. She came back to my house and she began to tell me why she was sat in the park for so long, it turns out Miss C that Rachels fathers haven't been home in a month and Rachel believes that they aren't coming back. Apparently they leave her for weeks at a time leaving just a note and some money, Rachel doesn't know where they are and to be honest with you I think she's terrified"

Shelby looked at the brunette in front of her with tears in her eyes and shock written all over her face, it was clear to santana now that she knew nothing about any of this. Shelby suddenly felt angry and betrayed, she thought her daughter was with loving, caring parents that would always dote on her beautiful little girl. She left all those months ago because she didn't want to break up, what she thought, was a wonderful family, she realises now that she had made the worst mistake of her life. "Miss Lopez, Where is Rachel now?" santana smiled at the older brunette and felt like her plan was going to work "She should still be at school, we have Glee practice at 3:30 until 5 so Rachel will be at school until then" Shelby nodded and ran a hand through her hair.

"Santana, do not tell Rachel about our little meeting, I will be at the school at 4:45pm to pick Rachel up, I will explain everything to her and hopefully she will be willing to listen, and Santana thank you for bringing this to my attention" the teenager was amazed at how composed the Glee coach was, but Santana also noticed that Shelbys eyes were watering and she was fighting with herself to stay that composed. Santana nodded at the older woman "You're welcome Coach C and I wont say anything to Rachel, but please make sure she's safe and make sure she knows that I only did this because I wanted to help her" Shelby smiled at the hispanic girl, she could tell how much Santana wanted to protect Rachel "I will Santana, I'll try my best". Santana stood up out of the chair and went to walk out of the door before she turned around and looked Miss Corcoran in the eye "Dont hurt her again, she deserves to be happy" with that Santana left and Shelby was alone once again.

She would never intentionally hurt Rachel, she only left because she thought Rachel was happy and she didn't want to complicate things or confuse Rachel. Now everything was different, her baby girl was scared and lonely and without a parental figure in her life. Shelby was going to do whatever she could to build a relationship with Rachel and help her through everything. She was going to get baby girl back.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Trust.

Rachel was surprised to see Santana in the choir room for Glee, she hadn't seen her all day and had just assumed the girl wouldn't be at practice today. She didn't want to talk to Santana just in case it was crossing some kind of boundary, Santana however was determined to talk to Rachel during Glee. "Hey Berry" Santana sat next to Rachel and smiled at her, Rachel was slightly intimidated and confused, she thought for sure that Santana wouldn't want to talk to her in front of other people. "Hello Santana, I haven't seen you around school today, where have you been?" Santana just shrugged and then hid a smirk from the short brunette.

Both girls didn't notice that the rest of the Glee club was watching them and they were all very confused. Quinn, who was sitting behind Santana, leaned forward and whispered in to the Cheerios ear "San, is there some kind of prank going on that I'm not aware of?" Santana turned around and looked at her blonde friend "No Q there isn't, I've just discovered that Berry is actually pretty cool" this confused Quinn even more "Right, and you've not fallen on your head during Cheerios practice?" Santana sighed, she knew this wasn't going to be particularly easy and that people would be skeptical but she had hoped they wouldn't accuse her of having a head injury "No Q, No I haven't" Quinn frowned at her friend and leaned back in her seat, she would get to the bottom of this.

During Glee practise everyone was becoming more and more suspicious of Santana's motives towards Rachel but chose not to say anything. They'd figure it out eventually.

Shelby arrived at McKinley at precisely 4:44pm, Rachel wouldn't be out of Glee for another 16 minutes, that gave her time to sit in her SUV and think about what exactly she was going to say to Rachel. She was worried what her daughters reaction to seeing her was going to be but she mostly worried about what Rachels reaction to her knowing about her dads was going to be. Maybe she should be assertive with Rachel, like Coach Corcoran would be, but then maybe she should be motherly like Rachel needed, but she's never been motherly and she didn't know if that was something she could do.

It was now 4:58pm and Shelby began to panic slightly, she still didn't know exactly how she was going to approach Rachel, and she didn't know what she was going to say but she stepped out of the car anyway and leaned against the drivers side door with her arms crossed over her chest and waited.

Rachel was glad when Mr Schue announced Glee practise was over, as much as she loved singing and dancing and Glee in general she was happy to be going home so that she could take a nap, yesterday had been emotional to say the least and she just wanted to relax and forget about the shit fest that was her life.

Santana watched Rachel as she gathered her stuff to leave, she looked tired and sad. The tall brunette walked over to the shorter girl and tapped her on the shoulder "Berry, how you feeling?" She whispered in singers ear "I'm okay Santana, thank you for asking, I just need to go home and relax for the evening" Santana purses her lips and nodded, she knew there was no way that Rachel was going to be relaxing this evening. "Well, if you need anything here's my number, text or ring me any time you want" she handed a piece of paper over to Rachel and smiled down at her "Thanks Santana" Rachel picked up her bag and sheet music and made her way towards the entrance of the school with a slight smile on her face.

She wasn't paying any attention as she walked out of the school doors, her mind was focusing on Santana and whether her dads would be home today. She had hope that they would be, it didn't matter that they treated her like an unwanted dog she loved them and she missed them. She began to walk down the steps towards the gates when she heard someone shout her name. She knew that voice, she hated that voice. Rachel stopped instantly and turned to where the voice had come from, her face hardened and she glared at the woman that was now walking towards her "What the hell do you want?".

Shelby wasn't surprised by Rachel's attitude, she understood that she had hurt Rachel all those months ago and she wasn't expecting her to run in to Shelbys arms but the coach inside of Shelby did not appreciate the glare and the tone of voice coming from her daughter "Rachel, I just want you to listen to me, I suggest you change your tone of voice and stop glaring at me" Rachel smirked and raised her eyebrows, who did this woman think she was "well, Shelby, I suggest you fuck off and leave me alone" with that Rachel turned on her heel and continued to walk towards the gate, her back was towards the coach and she didn't see the rage in her eyes.

Shelby was quicker than Rachel and managed to block the short girls exit before she could get any further away from her. "Listen to me little girl, I know that I don't deserve your respect or your time but do not swear at me, all I'm asking for is a chance to talk to you and explain why I did what I did". Rachel felt slightly guilty for telling Shelby to fuck off but mostly she just felt intimidated by the woman's harsh stare and posture, "Fine, talk" Rachel told the older woman, she wasn't in the mood to listen to Shelby but she knew that the quicker Shelby said what she wanted the quicker Rachel could go home and cry.

It would have been hard for anyone not to notice the sadness in Rachel's eyes, Shelby could just tell how unloved this little girl felt, her face was pale, her eyes were dark and filled with tears, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was dull. She clearly wasn't taking care of herself and Shelby was determined to change that. "We are not going to have this conversation here, come and get in my car and we'll go somewhere more private" Rachel sighed but nodded her head and followed the older woman to her SUV.

The drive was awkward, no-one spoke, neither of them knew what to say to the other. When Shelby stopped at a stop sign she looked over at her daughter, Rachel was staring out the window watching the world go by, she was clearly deep in thought. Shelby spoke first she needed to make sure Rachel was okay with their destination, she didn't want the girl to feel pressured or like she didn't have any choice "So Rachel, how would you feel about coming back to mine? We'd have the place to ourselves and I can order some dinner for us" Rachel looked over at the woman that was the spitting image of herself and simply nodded her head "Sure, that's fine".

15 minutes later Shelby was pulling in to her driveway, Rachel was staring up at the house with such awe, it was big but not too big, it was white with a black wooden door that looked quite heavy, "come on Rach, let's go inside and order some food and then we can have a chat" Shelby placed a hand on Rachel's back and guided her towards the front door. Inside was just as beautiful as the outside, there was an open kitchen/living room, a spiral staircase that Rachel was already in love with and French doors that lead out in to the back garden. Shelby told Rachel to sit on the sofa and she went to get a menu from the draw in the kitchen "is Chinese food okay Rachel?" The older brunette shouted from her place in the kitchen, Rachel simply shrugged and nodded her head.

After Shelby had gotten Rachel's food choices she phoned the restaurant and placed her order. "Our food will be here soon", again Rachel just nodded at her 'mother'. Shelby sat down on the sofa next to her daughter and took a deep breath, she needed to just come out and say everything she was thinking and feeling before she lost the nerve or Rachel ran away.

"Rachel, I know about your dads, I know that they've been gone for a month and I want to be there for you, I'm aware that you may not be able to trust me right now but I want you to give me a chance, I need you to let me take care of you because you clearly aren't taking care of yourself" Shelbys voice was desperate and needy, she watched Rachel carefully as she spoke and noticed that she didn't react to anything Shelby was saying, that concerned the teacher, she was expecting Rachel to at least show a little emotion. "Talk to me Rachel, tell me what you're feeling"

Rachel looked over at the older brunette, her face was neutral and lacked any emotion "how do you know?" Rachel's voice was eerily calm and low. Shelby looked in to the shorter girls eyes and could see she was getting slightly angry, Rachel knew there was only one person who knew about her dads and was beginning to understand why she hadn't seen Santana at school all day. "Santana came to Carmel to see me earlier today, she told me everything you told her yesterday but Rachel you need to understand that she did it to try and help you, she wasn't trying to betray you" Rachel's eyes watered "I should have known she'd screw me over" "Honey, that's not what she did at all, she wanted to help you, she even told me to make sure that I didn't hurt you again" Shelby held on to Rachel's hand in hopes that it would comfort her in some way, "now, I want you to talk to me and tell me in your words what's been going on", Rachel looked in to her mothers eyes and seen how much the woman wanted Rachel to trust her right now but she didn't know if she could.

"Why do you suddenly care? You walked away from me, are you getting some kind of sick satisfaction from helping the lonely, unwanted girl, and not only am I unwanted by dads but I was unwanted by you too, When I found you singing in the auditorium and realised you were my birth mother I thought you was going to save me, I thought thank god, maybe now I'll understand what it's like to be loved and cared for, but just like everyone else in my life you broke my heart and my spirit" Rachel's outburst brought tears to Shelbys eyes, it took everything she had not to let them fall "Honey, I always wanted you, you have to believe that, I walked away from you because I thought you had this perfect life with your dads and I didn't wanna screw that up for you, I realise now just how wrong I was and I'm so so sorry Rachel"

She couldn't control the tears anymore and just let them fall down her face and on to her shirt, Rachel watched the grown woman cry and let her own tears fall as well. Rachel wanted so badly to trust the woman in front of her but she didn't wanna get hurt again, she spent 5 minutes thinking about what she wanted to say before she spoke again "this is the longest they've been gone, they always leave a note and money on the kitchen table whilst I'm either in bed or at school. They always go for 1-2 weeks at the most, tomorrow it will be 5 weeks, I've not heard from them not a text or a phone call, they left me over $1000 in my savings account, they've never done that before. I don't think they're coming back and I'm afraid to look in their room to see if all their stuff is gone" Rachel was openly sobbing now and Shelby did the only thing she could think of, she pulled Rachel towards her and held her baby in a tight hug, she rubbed circles on her back and whispered in her ear "it's okay baby, everything is going to be okay, we'll figure it out I promise"

Suddenly Rachel felt comforted and loved, she hadn't felt loved in a very long time. Although she still didn't really trust shelby she felt like maybe she could learn to forgive her and in time build that trust up, after all all she ever wanted was her mother and Shelby was finally letting her have that.

Rachel buried her face in the crook of Shelbys neck and breathed in her mothers scent, she smelt like raspberry shampoo and perfume, she'd saviour this smell forever. Shelby began rocking Rachel back and forth and then started to sing, eventually she heard Rachel's breathing even out and looked down at the short brunette and noticed that Rachel had fallen asleep in her arms. Shelby wiped away her own tears and smiled down at her little girl, maybe Rachel would give her a chance, maybe she could finally be a mother to her baby. Shelby laid Rachel down on the sofa and covered her up with the blanket she keeps on the back of the chair. She sat next to Rachel and watched her sleep, she didn't care if it was creepy, that was her baby girl and she wanted nothing more than to keep Rachel here forever. She knew in that moment that she was going to fight her hardest to make sure Rachel didn't feel unwanted or lonely anymore, she was going to prove to her baby that she was loved by her mom more than anything.


	4. Chapter 4

chapter 4

She slept for about an hour before waking up in a confused state, where am I? Rachel thought to herself as she looked around the living area. And then it clicked, she was at Shelbys, but where is Shelby? She got off the sofa and started to look around at the pictures that laced the walls and tables, she didn't know any of the people in these pictures, except Shelby of course. She wondered if she was related to any of them in any way. As she continued to look at the pictures one in particular caught her eye.

It was a sonogram photo in a pink photo frame with the words 'Baby Girl" written at the bottom, Rachel stared at it before walking closer and picking it up. She then noticed the name that was written on the sonogram 'Shelby Lydia Corcoran'. "Thats you" Rachel jumped when she heard the voice behind her "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been looking I was just curious" Rachel placed the photo back in its spot on the wall and Shelby smiled at her daughters panic "Its okay Rachel, I don't mind, you can look at them if you want too" Shelby picked the photo back up and tried to keep her emotions at bay "This was my 20 week scan, your dads didn't want to know if you was a boy or a girl, they wanted it to be a surprise but I needed to know, I didn't know if they would tell me if you were a girl or a boy once I gave birth, so when your dads left the room and I was getting myself ready to leave I looked in the file that the midwife had left in the room, it was there clear as day that you were a little girl, I was so happy I've always wanted a little girl, so when I was driving home I stopped off in the town and bought this photo frame and put the sonogram picture that your dads let me keep in it as soon as I got home, its been there ever since"

Rachel looked at Shelby and noticed that she was on the verge of tears, her little speech had made Rachel think that maybe shelby wasn't as selfish as she thought, maybe she really did want Rachel in her life. "Why did you go? When you gave birth to me why didn't you try and keep me? if you wanted a little girl how could you just walk away from me?" Rachel was crying now too. Shelby wiped away her own tears then put the picture back in its rightful place and turned to Rachel, she wiped away Rachels tears and pulled her in to a tight hug.

"I couldn't keep you Rachel, I had already signed the contract that stated I couldn't see you until you were 18, If i hadn't of signed that I would have kept you" Shelby pulled away from Rachel and looked down at the short brunette wiping away more of her daughters tears "When you was born I wasn't even allowed to see you, I saw you when they were cleaning you off and then they took you away. I asked your fathers if I could hold you before they took you home and they said no because they didn't want me to get attached"

Rachel looked up at shelby and saw the pain in the woman eyes, she knew she was telling the truth and she knew that if shelby could of she would have kept her. "what I don't understand thought Shelby is why you spent so long looking for me and getting Jesse to trick me in to listening to that tape when you were just going to leave again" the taller brunette sighed she knew Rachel wouldn't understand fully until she was older but she would try and explain as much as possible so she could gain the girls trust.

Shelby pulled Rachel over to the sofa and sat her down "Rach, like I said before I didn't want to disrupt you life, I thought that you was happy and had 2 loving parents and a stable home environment I didn't want to just come in and ruin that for you, It hurt me so much to know that I was hurting you. When we sang together in the auditorium I was happy, I'd never been that happy in fact and I was so close to telling you that I couldn't walk away again but I knew that I had to do the right thing for you and I thought that was leaving so you could carry on with your life with your dads, I realise now that that wasn't the right thing to do and had you told me all those months ago that you wasn't happy I would have stayed and I would have fought so hard for you"

She was so angry with herself, why didn't she just tell Shelby back then what was going on, Rachel sighed, it all could have been so different if she had just spoken to her mother about everything months ago.

"Do you promise to be there from now on? can you promise me that I wont be alone anymore?" Rachel looked down at her feet as she mumbled her questions. Shelby grabbed Rachels chin between her thumb and finger and made her daughter look in to her eyes "Baby, I will never leave you again and you will never be alone, I promise" Shelby was openly crying now, to be honest she was close to sobbing, her daughters eyes were so sad and tired and it was breaking her heart. Rachel wiped away her mothers tears and crashed in to her placing her head on Shelbys chest and wrapping her arms around the woman's waist.

The coach smiled down at her little girl and kissed her on the head "What do you think about staying here tonight? its late and I don't really want you staying at home on your own" Rachel just nodded against her mothers chest. If the girl was being honest with herself she wanted to stay in her mothers arms for the rest of her life.

"Lets go get you settled in the guest room then" Shelby stood up and pulled rachel with her, holding rachels hand she walked up the spiral staircase and in to the spare bedroom. "I'll give you the grand tour of the place tomorrow its getting late and I can see how tired you are, my room is directly across from yours, if you need anything tonight don't hesitate to come in my room and talk to me, okay?" Rachel looked up at shelby and smiled "Thank you Shelby"

The older brunette went in to her room and got rachel some of her pyjamas, they would be too big but they'd have to do until she could go and collect some of the girls stuff from her house. "Here put these on" shelby handed over the pyjamas and left the girl to get changed. When rachel was finished shelby went back in and pulled the duvet down and rachel crawled in to bed. "Remember Rachel, if you need anything my door is open okay" Rachel smiled and nodded and Shelby kissed her on the head before leaving to get herself ready for bed.

Once Shelby had left rachels room rachel picked up her phone from the bedside table and sent a simple text.

Santana was just dozing off when she heard her phone go off indicating that she had a message, she rolled over and picked up her phone and read the text " _Thank you, R x"_ Santana smiled at the screen and quickly wrote out a reply " _You deserve to be happy too midget, San x"_

Rachel smiled at the text and put her phone back on the bedside table, it didn't take long for her to fall in to a deep sleep, she was exhausted from all the emotions she'd had over the last 2 days.

Morning came too quickly for Rachel, it was 7am and she was still so tired. She could hear the shower going and knew that shelby was awake. She climbed out of bed and took a good look at the room, she had been too tired to get a really good look last night. The room was nice, a little simple but nice. The bed was king sized with purple bedding, the walls were a plain white and the carpet was the same colour as the bedding, there was a wardrobe in one corner of the room and a chest of drawers against the wall across from the bed. There was no real personal touch to this room like there was the living room.

She heard the bedroom door open and turned to see Shelby walking in to the room "Oh, You're awake, I was just coming to see if you were okay, I'm going to make breakfast do you want anything in particular?" Shelby hadn't expected Rachel to be awake quite to early considering the time she went to bed last night, "Anythings fine, Thanks" rachel watched as shelby nodded her head and walked out of the room.

Downstairs shelby was making pancakes for her and rachel, the radio was on and she began singing as she cooked. "You know you really do have an incredible voice, I would know, I have one too" Rachel said as she watched her mother singing along to the radio. Shelby jumped when she heard Rachel speak, she hadn't heard her enter the kitchen "Jesus, you're so quiet, but thank you Rachel" Shelby smirked then winked at the shorter brunette.

They ate breakfast in silence, just appreciating each others company. After they ate shelby tidied the kitchen and then sat back down across from Rachel. It was a Saturday so neither of them had to be at work or school. "Thank you for letting me stay the night and for breakfast, I'll get out of your hair now, I need to go home anyway" Rachel said looking at the table. Shelby frowned at the short brunette "Actually Rachel, I was thinking that maybe I could take you home to get some of your stuff and then you could come back here and stay for a while, at least until we can get a hold of your dads and figure out whats going on"

"No, its okay, you don't have to do that, I'll be fine on my own and I don't wanna be a burden any longer"

"It's not really up for debate Rachel, you're staying here for the foreseeable future, you're not a burden and I don't want you staying on your own in that house" Shelby was using her coach corcoran voice, she knew how affective it was.

Rachel simply nodded and gave the older woman a small smile. She liked it when Shelby was assertive, it made her feel like she finally had a mom.

Once rachel had gotten dressed they went to her house so they could pick up some clothes and things for rachel to take back shelby's. It didn't take long and by 9:30 they were back Shelbys house putting her clothes in the drawers that were in the guest room.

They spent the rest of the day watching tv and getting to know each other a little bit. Rachel found out that Shelby couldn't have anymore kids she didn't go in to detail but rachel could tell that her mother was devastated by it so she didn't ask questions, not yet anyway. Shelby found out that rachel was in the top of her class and would be applying to NYU and NYADA in 2 years. That made the older brunette both proud and sad, she'd just gotten her daughter back and she would be leaving for New York in 2 years.

Rachel was sat on the sofa as Shelby made dinner and her phone vibrated to say she had a message, " _Hey Midge, hows it going with yo momma, San x?"_ Rachel smiled at Santanas wording before replying " _Its going okay I think, its still a little awkward but i think I may be able to finally trust her, she seems genuinely happy to have me here, R x"_

 _"_ _Thats good then midge, and hey if you need someone to talk to that isn't an adult you can talk to me you know that right? San x"_

 _"_ _Thanks San, I appreciate that and I will take you up on it :) R x"_

 _"_ _Good, So what you doing tomorrow? San x"_

 _"_ _Errm, Nothing I don't think, Shelby hasn't mentioned any plans or anything, R x"_

 _"_ _Wanna come breadstixs with me? I've not been in like 3 days and thats just not acceptable in my book, San x"_

 _"_ _Sure, I'll see you there, R x"_

 _"_ _I'll pick you up at 7 midge, speak to you later :) San x"_

Rachel smiled at the last message, she had never been out with a friend for dinner before, she really felt like things were looking up for her.

Shelby was watching her daughter from the kitchen and noticed how she smiled as she was texting, she hadn't seen her smiled that wide since they sang together in auditorium at McKinley, she couldn't help but smile along with her. Her baby girl actually looked happy and that brought a tear to her eye, she wiped it away before calling rachel in to the kitchen for dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N-Hey, so I just wanted to say thank you for all the lovely reviews that I've had on this fanfic, it is my first multi chapter story and I'm glad so many like it. Also I just wanted to clear up that eventually this will be a pezberry story as well as a Shelby and Rachel story and I apologise if my grammar or spelling or whatever isn't great but I am writing this either before or after very long shifts at work, some of them are 15hrs long but I am trying my best. Thanks, N.**

Chapter 5

It was Sunday morning and Rachel woke up with a spring in her step, she didn't know if it was because of her dinner with Santana or because you actually had a decent nights sleep.

Shelby was already downstairs making breakfast by the time Rachel had showered and gotten dressed. When Rachel came down Shelby smiled at how cheerful Rachel seemed, seeing her little girl so happy made her heart burst with joy.

"You're cheerful Rach, did you sleep well?" Shelby asked the girl as she entered the kitchen.

"I've not slept that well in a very long time, that bed is very comfortable" Rachel said with a smile on her face.

Shelby smiled back at the girl "Well, I'm glad you like honey". Rachel noticed how Shelby had started giving her nicknames and wondered when she would feel comfortable enough to start calling Shelby Mom or Mama, she assumed that once she was ready it would just slip out.

They ate breakfast in silence like they had most of their meals together so far, Rachel was wondering when she should bring up the dinner with Santana this afternoon. She didn't really know the protocol in this situation, was she meant to ask permission? she was her mother after all, or did she just say I'm going out with a friend tonight?.

Shelby could see that something was playing on Rachels mind, the girls eyebrows were furrowed and she had stopped eating her breakfast.

"Rach, is everything okay?" Shelby asked her daughter, she had clearly startled the girl out of her thoughts as rachels eyes were wide like she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't have.

"Errm, Yeah, everything is fine Shelby, I was just wondering if you had made any plans this afternoon?" Rachel practically mumbled the last few words and Shelby had to strain to even hear the girl.

Once Shelby had figured out what the girl had said she shook her head "not particularly honey, I was gonna go food shopping then maybe just have dinner and watch a movie or something, why?"

Rachel was still a little confused as to how she was supposed approach this but figured she'd just dive right in, she was used to being abrasive "Because I'm going out with Santana this afternoon to breadstix and wanted to make that you hadn't planned anything"

Shelby watched her daughter from across the table carefully, she seemed like she didn't really know if she should be asking or telling Shelby what she was doing tonight. "Thats fine Rachel, but next time can you please ask me rather than tell me and I want you to text me when you get there and its a school night so you need to be home by 10:30 okay?"

Rachel nodded at Shelby but she wasn't particularly happy with the curfew, she'd never had one before because her dads didn't really care where she was or what she was doing and they weren't home 99% of the time anyway.

The older brunette could see that the girl wanted to protest and was surprised when Rachel didn't say anything and just nodded her head.

It was 6:50pm and Rachel was waiting by the window for Santana to arrive, she thought she was being a little pathetic by being so excited about having dinner with a friend but she'd never had a proper friend before and it felt nice to finally have someone that wanted to be in your company.

Shelby smirked as she watched Rachel pace back and forth near the window, she had to wonder to herself if there was anything more than friendship going on between the 2 girls, she wouldn't ask because she knew that if there was that would have to be something that rachel came out and said in her own time.

"She's here, bye Shelby" Rachel went to walk out the door when she felt Shelby pull on her arm slightly.

"Remember what I said Rach okay, text me when you get there and make sure you're home by 10:30" Rachel rolled her eyes at the woman in front of her "I know, you've told me already, i'll see you later"

She ran out the front door and towards Santanas car before Shelby could say anything else. The coach waited by the door until Santana had driven off then she went back inside and smiled to herself, there is definitely something more than friendship there, Rachel was far too eager to leave to have dinner with a 'friend'.

"So midge, hows it going with momma shelby now you've spent 2 whole days together?" Santana asked the brunette sitting in her passenger seat.

"I think its going okay, I mean I don't really have anything to compare it too, my dads weren't exactly attentive you know but so far it seems like it might work out" Rachel smiled slightly as she spoke and Santana noticed and smiled along with her as she drove them to the restaurant.

Once they arrived and were seated at the table Santana demanded, it was her regular table and she refused to sit anywhere else, Santana started asking Rachel all kinds of personal questions to get to know the girl a little bit better.

"So midge, you still pining over Finn?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That ship has well and truly sailed, he clearly loves Quinn and to be honest they're good together" Rachel shrugged.

"Anyone else you got you're eye on?" Santana asked with a slight smirk on her face.

Rachel thought about this for a while before answering "Errm, to be honest I'm a little confused right now and think a relationship with anyone would be too much, so I'm keeping my distance and pushing all romantic feelings towards anyone to the back of my mind"

This reply confused Santana slightly, why was she being so evasive?. She decided to ignore it though for now as the waitress came over and took their orders. Once the waitress had left with their orders Santana decided to ask about Rachels dads.

"So Berry, heard from your dads yet?" Santana looked at the girl across from her and studied her closely as she was asking her question. She watched as the brown eyed girl slowly looked down at the table and wiped at one of her eyes.

"Shit, Berry i'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you I just thought maybe you'd wanna talk about it, if you don't that cool, the ball is totally in your court" Rachel looked up at the beautiful hispanic girl in front of her and wiped away the rest of her tears, she felt like such an idiot for crying in the middle of the restaurant.

Rachel saw the panic in her friends eyes and felt bad for her, she was only trying to help but Rachel always got emotional when her dads were brought in to conversation, she just used to be better at hiding it.

"No San its fine, honestly, I just have a hard time talking about them, I guess its because I'm not used to it and for the past few days it been all that I think about and talk about you know, but to answer your question, no I haven't heard from them and I suspect that I either wont, ever again, or it will be a while before they come back or message me"

It hurt santana to see the singer so broken and sad, she may have only just started to get to know the girl properly but she knew that the brunette had such a big heart and didn't deserve to be treated like this.

"What did Shelby say she was going to do about it all?" She had been hesitant to ask this question but her curiosity got the better of her.

"She just said that I'm staying with her until either my dads come back or we get a hold of them, so I reckon i'll be living with Shelby for a while. I had to go to my dads house yesterday and collect a bunch of stuff from my room, she said that me staying with her was not up for debate. You know she can be really intimidating when she wants to be"

Santana laughed at Rachels final comment, she was rarely intimidated by anyone and Coach C put her nerves on edge, especially when she raised that damn eyebrow of hers.

The rest of the evening was spent gossiping about the other glee members or the cheerios, and talking about Miss Sylvesters crazy plans to destroy the glee club or Mr Schues constant puppy dog eyes at Miss Pillsbury.

By the time they had finished eating and gossiping it was going on 10:45, Santana and Rachel walked out of the restaurant and towards the car. Santana noticed that Rachel was shivering slightly and pulled her in to her side as they walked.

Rachel had forgotten all about texting Shelby and her curfew, she hadn't looked at her phone all night so she didn't notice all the messages she had from Shelby.

By the time Santana had dropped off Rachel it was 11:00 and Shelby was not happy.

Rachel walked through the front door with a smile so wide it was starting to hurt her cheeks a little bit. The smile soon fell though when Shelby turned the living room light on and stood up from the sofa with anger on her face and her hands on her hips.

"Rachel Berry I have been texting and ringing you all evening, why have you not answered me?" Shelby's eyes were full of panic and anger and her voice was exactly the tone she used when she was coaching Glee.

"I havent looked at my phone all night thats why"

"But you was meant to text me when you arrived at the restaurant, not only that but you are 30 minutes past your curfew, I was starting to worry Rachel"

Rachel frowned at the older woman and couldn't quite comprehend why she would be worried, it wasn't like she had been in her life long enough to worry about her and her dads never worried.

"I'm going to bed" that was all Rachel could think to say at the moment and she started to walk over to the stairs.

Shelby gently grabbed rachels arm and turned her around "No, Rachel you need talk to me about this, you cant just come and go when you please and disobey me, thats not how this is going to work"

Rachel rolled her eyes and pulled away from Shelbys grasp "How what is going to work Shelby? because lets be honest with each other for a second okay, you aren't my legal guardian so technically I don't have to listen to you, and anyway how can you possibly be worried about me? you barely know me and my own dads didn't even worry so I don't think you have any right to either"

With that Rachel stormed off upstairs, leaving a stunned and angry Shelby behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

She was fuming, not only had her child yelled at her but she also hurt Shelbys feelings and that made her even angrier, Shelby didn't get hurt feelings often, she usually let everything roll off her, like water off a ducks back.

Shelby didn't want to have this conversation with Rachel whilst she was this angry so she went and poured herself a glass of wine and sat at the table in the kitchen for a few minutes.

After she felt like she had sufficiently calmed down she put her glass in the dish washer and made her way to rachels bedroom.

Rachel was sat on the bed trying to decide if she should just pack her stuff up and walk out of the woman's house, she had clearly ruined everything anyway, Shelby wouldn't want her to stay here anymore after the way she just spoke to her. After thinking for a few minutes she decided she was leaving and grabbed her duffle bag out the wardrobe.

She was packing all her clothes when she heard a knock on the door, Shelby didn't give her time to acknowledge the knock before just walking in to the room.

"What are you doing?" Shelby asked the shorter girl with a raised eyebrow and her hands on her hips.

"Leaving" was all rachel said to the woman.

"And where do you think you're going to go? because you most certainly will not be going back to your dads house, you are not staying home alone again" Shelby's tone of voice was very coach Corcoran and she hoped that it would made Rachel stop what she was doing and listen.

"Like I said before, you are not my legal guardian so fuck off out this room and leave me alone" Rachel was shocked at herself for swearing let alone swearing at Shelby and she could see the shock on the older woman's face, she could also see the rage in her eyes and noticed how her face hardened after she swore.

Shelby walked closer to Rachel and the girl backed up a bit on impulse "Listen to me little girl and listen carefully because i'm only going to say this once, do not ever tell me to fuck off again, if I ever hear you swear in my house or anywhere in fact I will not hesitate to teach you a lesson. Also I may not be your legal guardian but right now I am the only thing you have to protect you, feed you and look after you and you will respect me, are we clear?" Shelby's voice was dangerously low and her eyebrow was raised in that scary way she did.

Rachel wasn't happy still and she wanted to leave but she knew not to piss Shelby off anymore and just nodded her head at the woman.

"Good I'm glad we cleared that up, now come and sit on your bed because we need to talk about rules" Shelby placed her hand at the bottom of rachels back and guided her towards the bed.

They sat in silence fro a few seconds, rachel was looking at the floor and shelby was looking at rachel, Shelby knew that rachel wasn't going to look at her unless she made her so she lifted the girls head with a finger under her chin and made the brunette look in to her eyes.

"Listen to me when I say this rachel, I really need you to hear me okay?" Shelby caught the tear that slipped down the girls cheek and then carried on with her speech. "Rachel Berry, I have always cared about you and loved you, with love comes worry and I know you think I have no right to worry about you but unfortunately Rachel I do. Anything could happen to you whilst you're out at that time of night and I would never forgive myself if anything did" Shelbys voice wasn't harsh it was serious and loving.

"I've already ruined everything by swearing and yelling at you so I don't know why you're pretending to care still" Rachel said with tears running down her face.

"Baby, you could never ruin anything, you can try and push me away as much as possible but I'm not going anywhere and think deep down you know that and it scares you, you've never really had a permanent parental figure and you don't know what to expect but thats okay because i'll always be here to talk to you when you need me or cuddle you when you're upset, but i'll also be here when you get in trouble and need to be punished, thats what parents to Rach" Shelby could feel herself welling up and tried her hardest to keep the tears at bay as she spoke.

Rachel looked away from her mother and continued to stare at the floor, "I'm sorry for yelling and swearing at you, I really want this to work out Shelby but I'm scared you'll leave me like my dads have"

Shelby felt her tears fall down her cheek and quickly wiped them away, she pulled rachel towards her and held her tight against her chest "Rachel, I will never leave you like your dads, I love you too much"

At this Rachel looked up at Shelby and smiled, it had been a while since anyone had told her they loved her and it felt kind of nice having it come from her mom. "I love you too, Mama" rachel said in a quiet, scared voice.

Shelby cried harder and pulled her impossibly closer to her chest, she kissed rachel on the head and started rocking her back and forth. After a while Shelby noticed that rachel had stopped crying and suspected that she was about to fall asleep in her arms.

"Rach, put some pyjamas before you go to sleep and i'll tuck you" Shelby kissed her on the head again and helped the girl to stand up.

After they were both in their pyjamas Rachel crawled in to bed and got herself comfortable "Mama?"

"Yes, baby?" Shelby asked smiling down at her daughter

"Will you lay with me tonight?" Rachel asked in a child like voice.

"Of course I will princess" Shelby crawled in to bed next to her little girl and pulled her close running her fingers through the brunettes hair until she fell asleep.

Rachel woke up at her usual time of 6am for school the next morning, Shelby was still asleep and she still had her arms wrapped around the tiny brunette. Rachel needed to get out of bed so she could get ready for school but she didn't want to wake her mother up.

In the end Rachel lifted the older woman's arms and pushed her away from her slightly so she could get free from the coaches grip, she managed to get away without waking Shelby up.

She went in the shower and got herself dressed and ready for school, by the time she was ready Shelby had woken up and started making breakfast.

"Good morning honey, I made breakfast, I don't know if you like waffles but I figured everyone liked them" Shelby said smiling down at her daughter.

"Yeah, I do, thanks" Rachel was still a little embarrassed about what she had said to her mother the previous night but decided to just let it go and move on.

"You're welcome, now eat up and i'll go get ready, i'll drop you off at school before going work"

"you don't have to do that, I can walk, Mckinley isn't exactly close to Carmel"

Shelby looked at rachel and smiled "I know I don't have to but I want to, just let me take my beautiful daughter to school okay"

Rachel nodded and smiled slightly at her mom, she could get used to feeling loved every day.

After Shelby dropped Rachel off at school she called Carmel and explained the whole Rachel situation to the principle and said she wouldn't be in work today but may be able to make it for VA practice, the principle seemed quite sympathetic to Shelby's situation.

So instead of going to work Shelby made her way to her lawyers office to talk about Rachels dads and discuss the possibility of getting custody of Rachel.

Shelby didn't tell rachel about her plans to go see a lawyer today because she didn't want the girl to fight her on it or possibly get her hopes up and then have them crushed, not because Shelby didn't want her but because she didn't know for sure if she could even get custody of Rachel.

Walking in to her lawyers office she was giving the impression that she was confident but inside she was shitting herself. "Hello, i'm Shelby Corcoran, I'm here to see Zach Kendall"

"Good morning Miss Cororan, please take a seat and i'll let him know you're here" the girl behind the reception go up and went in to Mr Kendalls office as Shelby took a seat in the waiting area.

2 minutes later Zachary Kendall came walking out of his office and looked like he was genuinely happy to see Shelby, he pulled her in to a hug and told her to come in to his office.

"Shelby, its been far too long, how have you been?" the lawyer asked with a permanent smile on his face.

"I've been good Zach and it has been too long, how are you and Henry doing?" Shelby had known Zach Kendall for many years, they met at a frat party in college and hooked up once before he realised he was gay, he was there when Shelby was pregnant with Rachel, he tried to give her legal advice but Shelby had been stubborn and refused to listen to it.

"We're good Shel, now what can I help you with today?"

"Rachel, you need to help me get custody of her Zach" Shelby's voice was desperate and pleading.

"But Shel, she's been adopted by the men you carried her for, why do you suddenly want her back? its been 16 years" Zach was confused, he had only heard of Shelby wanting Rachel back once and that was when she was first born.

"I need you to help me find the Berry men, they've left Rachel on her own in their house for over a month, they haven't been in touch with her and they left over $1000 in her savings account and in cash. Rachel doesn't even know where they are, apparently they just leave her a note and money and just disappear for 1-2 weeks but in total its now been 5 weeks and I need custody of her because both me and Rachel don't think they are coming back and what they have done is neglect, correct?"

Shelbys speech had surprised Zach, he really thought that Shelby had just wanted her daughter back because she regretted the decision she made 16 years ago but she had reasons for wanting her baby back, good reasons.

"Yes, Shelby that is considered to be neglect, Rachel is what 16 now? she's not legally an adult and she shouldn't be left home alone for even 1 week left alone 5, I will help you with anything you need and I will try my hardest to get you custody of her, I promise Shel".

"Thank you Zach, the first thing we need to do if find out where the Berrys are and if they're coming back"

Zach nodded and made a few phone calls whilst Shelby sat in the chair bouncing her leg up and down.

Across town at Mckinley High Rachel was walking down the halls when she felt someone pull her in to the janitors closet, she was screamed until she felt someone put their hand over her mouth "Geez Midget its just me, calm the fuck down" Santana said before pulling away her hand from Rachels mouth.

"How did you want me to react to being pulled in to a closet San?" Rachels eyes narrowed at the girl in front of her and she glared at the hispanic beauty.

"Don't look at me like that, you look like coach C and its freaking me out" Rachel laughed at the girls fear of her mother, it really was amusing to know that Santana could be intimidated by Shelby Corcoran.

"Okay, fine, look my face is normal now, why have you pulled me in here?" Rachel was still smiling at her friend and Santana rolled her eyes.

"I pulled you in here because we're gonna skip class" Santana smirked at the brunettes shocked look.

Rachel was staring at the taller girl like she was crazy "Are you insane? I've never skipped a class before and I don't plan on ruining my perfect attendance record, thank you very much" Rachel went to walk out the janitors closet but Santana was quicker and blocked her escape.

"Come on Rach, live a little, we'll never be this young again and I really don't wanna go to History class and I also don't wanna skip class on my own, please Midge, wouldn't it be fun to hang out at the park for an hour rather than sit and listen to Mrs Adams drone on and on about shit that happened 100 fucking years ago" Santana was literally begging her friend to skip class, she was one speech away from practically being on her knees.

"Okay fine, but this is the only time I'm skipping class, okay?" Rachel was standing in front of Santana with her eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips.

"Thats cool, now put the fucking Corcoran eyebrow down before I shave them off" Santana said in a voice that told Rachel she was being serious so she lowered her eyebrow and smirked at the cheerio.

As soon as the final bell rang for all students to get to class Rachel and Santana made their way out of the school and towards the Lima Bean to get a drink. After they got their coffees they walked to the park down the road.

Santana kept looking in Rachels direction, it made Rachel a little nervous but she didn't let on that she knew Santana was looking at her.

"So errm Rach, everything still going okay with momma C?" Santana asked and watched Rachels reaction, she noticed the small smile on her face and couldn't look away from it, she looked beautiful when she smiled.

"Yeah its going okay, we argued last night for the first time about my curfew because I was late, I told her to fuck off and she was not impressed, I almost left the house and went back to my dads but we talked and we worked it out, I even called her Mama last night, do you think its too early for that?" Rachel's voice was unsure and low and she didn't know if asking that question made her sound pathetic.

"Midge, I think as long as you're ready to say that it isn't too early and I can almost guarantee that you just made coach C's year by calling her Mama" Santana was serious and made Rachel look in to her eyes as she spoke so she could see how serious she was.

"Thank you San, for everything, for getting Shelby to come back to me and for being my friend but most of all thank you for listening to me and helping me through this, you really are a great friend" Rachel was still looking in Santanas eyes and noticed how they watered as she was speaking.

Rachel sat closer to the taller girl and then wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her in to a tight hug, Santana hugged Rachel back instantly and marvelled in the way the short brunette felt in her arms, she smelled Rachels hair and rubbed her back.

After several minutes in each others arms they both pulled away and looked at the floor, an awkward silence came over them. Santana didn't know what was going but she knew that her feelings for Rachel were changing and she didn't really know how to deal with that.

Rachel also felt like her feelings for Santana were changing but she had never thought of any girl in the way she was thinking about her friend. Maybe it was just because she finally had a real friend to talk to, maybe thats what this feeling was. Somehow though she doubted it.

Maybe she could talk to Shelby about it tonight, she didn't think Shelby would have a problem with it and it could bring them a little closer.

Thats what she was going to do, she was going to talk to Shelby and see if she could sort these feelings out.


	7. Chapter 7

Shelby was driving home from her lawyers office, her music was playing loud and she was singing along to it. Whilst she was singing Celine Dion-Alone something caught her eye and stopped abruptly, when she stopped at the stop sign she took a good look at the park and just as she suspected her daughter was sat on the bench with her friend.

Shelby smirked to herself and came up with a plan to surprise her child. Rachel didn't know what was going to hit her.

She found somewhere to park her car and climbed out. She decided to walk the long way around the park so Rachel and Santana wouldn't see her approaching them.

It wasn't like Shelby to do something like this, normally she would make her presence known to the subject of her anger but she was feeling mischievous.

As Shelby made her way around the small park and towards her little girl and her friend she heard the pair talking and decided to listen in for a short while.

"So, Midge, Do you think your dads will come back any time soon?" Santana asked her short friend.

"Honestly, I don't think they're coming back at all and I think Shelby is going to get stuck with me, I'm not entirely sure if Shelby would file for custody of me though, is there any point in that? I leave in 2 years" Rachel was serious and Santana could see the slight hurt in the girls eyes.

"You don't know that they're not coming back though Rach, for all you know they could be on their way home right now, and as for Shelby she's not getting stuck with you and if she decides that she doesn't want custody of you or doesn't want you to live with her anymore you can come live with me, my parents wouldn't mind" Santana pulled Rachel in to her for a tight hug as she spoke and Rachel couldn't help but smile at what the Latina had just told her.

Shelby sighed as she listened, she knew Rachel had some insecurities and she was willing to help her get through them but she didn't realise how deep those insecurities went until just then. She had to make her presence known before she got accused of eavesdropping.

"Fancy seeing you pair here, isn't there some kind of class you should be attending right now?" Shelby said to the girls as she smirked at them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

Oh, Shit, Rachel thought to herself when she heard her mothers voice coming from behind her. Santana glanced up at the older brunette and smiled in hopes that she could soften the woman's heart a little.

"Now how about you climb in to my car and I take you back to school, Oh and Rachel we will discuss this further when you get home after Glee, and Santana your mother is Maribel Lopez correct?"

Santanas face dropped and her eyes grew 3x their normal size, how the hell did she know her mom?

"I thought so, her phone number is still the same right, I'll give her a ring and let her know about your little adventure after I drop you off at school" Shelby was still smirking and neither girl had seen her quite so devious before, it was unsettling.

Shelby dropped both girls off at the school and told the receptionist that they had skipped class before returning to her car and making her way back home so she could call Mrs Lopez and let her know about their daughters truancy.

At the school Rachel was glaring at Santana "Do you realise how much trouble I'm going to be in when I get home?"

Santana glared back at Rachel, "I'm also going to be in trouble, your mom is ringing my mom, wasn't she meant to be at work today?"

Rachel frowned and looked at her friend, that was a valid point, why wasn't her mom at work? She will have to find out later on when she got home.

After Glee Rachel walked out of the choir room and towards the exit when she heard Santana shouting her name "Rachel…Rachel wait up midget"

Rachel turned around and waited for her friend to catch up with her, she noticed that Kurt and Quinn were standing in the door way of the choir room watching their friends interact and rolled her eyes at them.

"Yes Santana?" Rachel said with a slight annoyance

"I was just wondering if you wanted a lift home, I noticed that Shelby dropped you off this morning and I didn't know if she was picking you up" Santana's voice was nervous sounding and that confused Rachel as well as the 2 Glee clubbers that were spying on them.

"Errm, I dont know if she's picking me up either to be honest, she never said if she was" Rachel then continued to walk out the school with Santana close behind her.

"Doesn't look like Shelby is coming to pick me up so a lift home would be great Santana" Rachel smiled at her friend and followed her to her car.

Just as Rachel was about get in the car with her friend she heard a car horn and someone shouting. "Rachel Berry, get in my car now" Shelby took her sun glasses off and raised her eyebrow at the girl.

Rachel looked at her mother and rolled her eyes, she then turned towards her friend and shrugged "I guess i'll see you tomorrow Santana, text me later and let me know what your mom said" she smirked at her friend and walked over to her mothers car.

"Very funny Rachel, let me know what your mother says too midge" Santana shouted towards her tiny friend.

Shelby couldn't help but smile at her daughter when she got in the car with the biggest grin on her face. "What are you so happy about?" Shelby asked her little girl when she started driving towards the house.

"Just happy, is that a crime?" Rachel's voice was laced with attitude as she spoke.

"No, its not a crime Rach, I was just curious what was making my daughter smile like that, also drop the attitude, you're already in trouble for skipping class, don't make me punish you for your attitude as well" Shelby's tone of voice was serious and harsh, her eyebrow was also raised so Rachel knew not to continue with her attitude.

Rachel looked at her mothers raised eyebrow as Shelby drove and wondered how such a simple thing could have such an affect on her.

Once they arrived home Shelby told Rachel to go up to her room, shower and get ready for bed, she told Rachel she would be up to speak to her soon.

Shelby walked in to Rachels room and saw the girl curled up in a ball on the bed, she walked over and sat next to the tiny girl.

"Honey, I need you to sit up and look at me" Shelby patted Rachel on the leg and spoke in a soft, motherly voice.

Rachel quickly sat up and looked at her mother, she didn't want to get in more trouble than she was already in.

"Rachel, skipping class is not okay and I don't want to find out that you have skipped anymore of your classes, do you understand me?" Shelby's voice was no longer motherly, it was now serious and very Coach Corcoran, kids listened to her better when she used that voice.

"Yes Ma'am" Rachel mumbled with her head hanging down.

Shelby grabbed Rachels chin and made her look in to her eyes "Your education is important and I will not have you fail any of your classes, how do you expect to get to New York and go to college if you fail in high school"

The question was rhetorical but Rachel decided to answer it anyway "I have a 4.0 GPA, my attendance is 100% because I even go to school when I'm ill and it was one class, I've never skipped a class before today"

The older brunette couldn't help but be a little bit proud of her daughter for having such a good attendance record and GPA but she hid her pride well, "Thats not really the point Rachel, if you start skipping classes your GPA and attendance record will start to slip, then you have less chance at getting in to the college you want, it may have only been one class today but in the future it will be more and more classes and thats when everything falls apart, do you get what I'm trying to say Rachel"

Rachel nodded her head and looked in to her mothers eyes, she could see how serious she was.

"Good, I'm glad we understand each other" Shelby went to get up so she could go downstairs and start their dinner, before she could stand up she felt Rachel pull on her arm so she couldn't move. Shelby frowned slightly at her daughter "Whats up Rach?" she could tell something was bothering her child.

"Mama, Can I talk to you about something? something that is very personal and little embarrassing?" Rachel mumbled and let go of Shelbys arm as she spoke.

Shelby looked at her daughter and could see that she was holding something in, something important to the young girl. "Baby, you can talk to me about anything and you don't need to be embarrassed, i'll never judge you Rach"

The short brunette sighed and gathered her thoughts for a few minutes before she spoke to her mother.

"You see the thing is, ever since me and Santana became friends I've been having these weird feelings towards her and I've never experienced those feelings with anyone other than Finn. I don't really know how to control them and I don't really know what they mean. Am I gay mama?"

Shelby watched her daughter as she rambled on a mile a minute, when the question left her daughters mouth she was shocked, she knew this moment would come because she had seen the way the girls looked at each other but she thought she would have more time to prepare.

She didn't know what to say, should she be honest with the girl? or should she tell her that she didn't know if she was gay or not?

After thinking about it for a few minutes and given the way Rachel was now looking at her for an answer she decided that honesty was the best policy.

"Listen to me Rachel…" Shelby moved both herself and Rachel so they were facing each other and sitting comfortably on the bed. "I am going to be completely honest with you, I think that if you're having feelings for Santana that you've had for your ex boyfriend then you're probably not gay, its more than likely that you're bisexual and there is nothing wrong with that honey. It's who you are and you should be proud of it, I'm proud of you for even speaking to me about this, it took me years to talk to my parents about something like this" Shelby hadn't realised what she'd said until she saw Rachel's eyes widen and her mouth drop open.

"Mama, are you bisexual?" Rachel asked her mother with a hint of amusement in her voice but complete shock on her face.

"Yes, Rachel, I'm bisexual, and I really didn't want you to find out this way" Shelby ran a hand over her face in frustration and annoyance with herself.

"It's okay Mama, I don't care if you wanna date men and women, I'm clearly in the same boat anyway. Maybe this is a good thing, now I know you can help me when I wanna ask a girl out on a date" Rachel was becoming a little excited at the thought of being able to get dating tips from her mother.

"You mean when you ask SANTANA out on a date, honey I would have helped you with that anyway, even if I was straight" Shelby smirked at her daughter as she blushed at the mention of asking Santana out.

"Now honey, I think its time for dinner, do you wanna come and help me make something?" Shelby said changing the subject because she didn't want Rachel to get even more embarrassed and then crawl in to her shell.

"Sure, I'll come downstairs in a minute okay?" Rachel told her mom and Shelby nodded knowing that Rachel would need some time to herself to really process what they had just spoke about.

As soon as Shelby left the bedroom Rachel grabbed her phone from her bag and sent a quick message to her new friend and possible love interest.

 _"_ _Hey San, How'd it go with your mom? Rx"_

 _"_ _Hey Midge, fine I guess, she grounded me for a week though :( San x"_

 _"_ _Aww thats a shame, my mom didn't even do that, she just lectured me on the consequences of skipping class ;) Rx"_

 _"_ _Well, good for you midge, I'm happy for you *rolls eyes* San x"_

 _"_ _Hahah! Listen I gotta go help mom make dinner, I'll talk to you later, Rx"_

 _"_ _Okay Tiny, See you later, have fun making dinner with your mommy ;) San x"_

Rachel knew Santana was making fun of her for helping her mother make dinner but she still smiled at the message and wondered if Santana felt the same way she did.

She put her phone on charge next to her bed and went downstairs to help her mom.

After dinner Shelby and Rachel sat in the living room watching a movie on the tv, Shelby could see that Rachel was deep in thought and wasn't really concentrating on the movie.

"Are you okay Rach? you've been a little quiet since dinner" Shelby ran her hand through Rachels dark locks as she spoke.

Rachel looked up at her mom and stared her in the eye "I was just wondering why you weren't at work today, it doesn't seem like you to take a random day off"

Shelby sighed and sat up straighter, this made Rachel move and sit in front of her mom. Rachel looked at the older woman's face and noticed how she looked a little panicked and couldn't keep eye contact with her. "Mama?"

"No, Rach it isn't like me to take a random day off work, and it wasn't a random day off, I had to go somewhere and talk to someone about something" Shelby didn't elaborate beyond that but she could see that her explanation wasn't going to satisfy Rachel.

She knew this had something to do with her, she could tell by the way her mom wouldn't look at her right now and the explanation her mom gave didn't really explain anything either. "So where did you go? who did you talk to? and I can already tell that the something you spoke about was me"

Shelby knew she had to tell Rachel the truth, as much as she wanted to keep it a secret from her daughter for a little longer she knew that look of determination in her little girls eyes wasn't going anywhere.

"I went to my lawyers office and spoke to my lawyer, and yes it was about you" Shelby was now looking the girl in the eye and was trying to gage her reaction.

Confusion, that was Rachels reaction, why would her mom need to go see a lawyer about her?. After a few seconds confusion turned to fear, was her mom looking for a way to get rid of her already? Shelby noticed the change in the girls eyes and quickly jumped in to an explanation.

"I went to see my lawyer because I need to find your dads…" Shelby seen the young girls eyes turn sad as she mentioned her dads.

"I'm annoying you so much already that you cant even wait for my dads to come back on their own, you need to find them so you can get rid of me sooner" Rachel went to run off upstairs but Shelby grabbed her arm before she could move and kept the girl on the sofa so she could finish her explanation.

"No thats not why i'm looking for them Rachel, i'm looking for them because we both need answers, you especially, and although I may not need your dads here to get custody of you I was hoping to find them so we could both get an explanation and keep this whole thing out of court by having your dads sign the papers and make me your legal guardian" Shelby was close to tears and was trying her hardest to keep her emotions at bay.

"You want custody of me?" Rachel wiped a tear off her cheek and looked at Shelby, she noticed how her mom was trying her hardest not to cry.

"Yes, Rachel I want custody of you"

Rachel launched herself in to Shelbys arms and held on to the woman tight, she had never felt so wanted before. She pulled back and looked in to her mothers eyes, a tear fell down Shelbys cheek and Rachel wiped it away with her thumb. Shelby smiled at how sweet her daughter was and pulled her back in to a tight hug.

"I love you so much baby girl" Shelby told her daughter as they hugged.

Rachel buried her face in her mothers neck and breathed in the scent of her "I love you too mama".

More tears flowed down the older woman face when she heard her daughter tell her she loved her, it made Shelby truly happy and she could stay in this position with her little girl forever.

 **A/N- So I hope none of you mind that I made Shelby bisexual as well, I was going to make her a lesbian but I didn't wanna limit her relationship choices in further chapters.**

 **In the next chapter I'm thinking of bringing back Rachels dads, it is going to skip ahead a few weeks as well, just to pre warn you, I think skipping ahead will make Shelby and Rachels relationship deeper and they will have more mother/daughter issues to deal with.**

 **Who do you think I should set Shelby up with btw? should I make a new character or should it be someone from the show? your input is always appreciated :)**

 **Thanks, N x**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- So I read everyones reviews, thank you for all the nice comments and suggestions I really appreciate it. I noticed that many of you mentioned that I should set Shelby up with Cassandra July and I really like that idea so I'm taking it on board.**

 **Thanks, Nx**

Its been a month since Rachel started staying with Shelby, for the most part they've gotten along really well, they've only had minor arguments now and then and its mainly about Rachels attitude towards shelby or rachel thinking she can get away with not helping around the house and expecting shelby to tidy her room and make her bed.

Rachel had just woken up for school and was about to go get ready when her phone make a noise indicating she had a message.

 _"_ _Want a ride to school again midge? san x"_

Rachel smiled at the message, she loved it when Santana gave her a lift to and from school because it gave her a chance to be alone with the hispanic beauty and work up the courage to ask her out.

 _"_ _Sure San, Thanks, R x"_

She put her phone on the side and went to get ready for school, she was already 5 minutes behind schedule.

After getting ready for school rachel made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast, Shelby was always downstairs first making breakfast, it made rachel smile every morning. As she sat at the table shelby placed a plate of pancakes in front at her with a smile on her face.

"Good morning sweetheart, did you sleep well?" Shelby asked in that motherly tone she so often uses now.

"Yes thank you mother, did you sleep well?" Rachel asked in a tone that was sarcastic.

Shelby didn't take too kindly to rachels tone and glared at her daughter before putting on a show face and pretending not to notice the sarcasm.

"Yes I did, thank you Rachel"

"Glad to hear it" Rachel said as she rolled her eyes.

"Hurry up and eat your breakfast, we gotta leave soon" Shelby chose to ignore the eye roll and moved away from that particular conversation before she ended up in an argument with her child.

"Santanas giving me a lift again today so you don't need to worry about it"

"She's been taking you to school a lot lately, have you asked her out yet" Shelby didn't even bother to hide her smirk from her daughter as she spoke.

"No, I don't wanna ask her and then have her reject me because that'll just ruin our friendship so I think I'm just gonna leave it how it is and not show santana that I like her in a romantic way" Rachel was very serious as she spoke but Shelby was still smirking slightly.

"Honey, I dont think Santana would reject you and even if she did its not going to ruin your friendship, all you have to do is explain that you like her as more than a friend but if she doesn't thats okay because you still want to be friends" Shelby smiled at her daughter and patted her on the back.

"Okay, i'll keep thinking about it" As Rachel spoke there was a knock at the door, Shelby went to answer it knowing it was Santana to collect Rachel.

"Morning Miss C" Santana said with a sickeningly sweet smile and a flutter of her eyelashes.

"Good morning Miss Lopez" Shelby said with a genuine smile on her face, she really goes like Santana, if it wasn't for her she wouldn't be in rachels life right now and as much as Santana wants everyone to believe she's a badass Shelby can tell she's a softy at heart.

Santana walked passed Shelby and towards the open kitchen where Rachel was still eating her breakfast and took a seat in the chair next to her friend.

"Alright Midge, awesome, pancakes" Santana grabbed a fork off the table and started helping herself to Rachels breakfast.

"Sure just help yourself Santana" Rachel said as she rolled her eyes at her friend.

"You know if you had turned up earlier I would have made some for you, I'm pretty sure Maribel feeds you though so stop eating like you're starving to death" Shelby commented as she walked in to the kitchen where the girls were.

"Hey, Miss C, I've been meaning to ask, how on earth do you know my mom? I've never heard her mention you before" Santana was shovelling Rachels pancakes in her mouth whilst she spoke.

"Close your mouth Santana, and I know your mother because we used to be good friends in high school, after I went to New York though we kind of lost touch but when I came back I saw her in the supermarket and we started talking again, not as much as we used to but we have coffee sometimes and talk on the phone" Shelby was a little nostalgic as she spoke and smiled to herself as she thought about all the good times she and Maribel had in high school.

When Santana had finished eating Rachels breakfast they left the house and made their way to school leaving Shelby alone in the house to get ready for work.

It had been a long day for both Shelby and Rachel, they both just wanted to go home and relax in front of the tv. Rachel had been dealing with Quinn all day asking her what she was holding against Santana because the Latina wouldn't just be friends with her for no reason, Shelby had been dealing with winey high school kids all day that couldn't take constructive criticism and chose to ignore her orders.

On her way home Shelby decided to pick up dinner for herself and Rachel, the last thing she wanted to do was cook when she got home.

As she walked in to Rachels favourite chinese takeaway place she noticed a blonde sitting in the waiting area, she looked familiar to Shelby but she couldn't quite place her.

After Shelby ordered dinner for her and Rachel she went a sat in the waiting area next to the blonde woman, who was now looking at Shelby like she knew her.

"Shelby Corcoran, I haven't seen you in what 16 years" the blonde woman spoke first as she smirked at Shelby.

Shelby looked at the blonde and really focused on her this time, suddenly realisation dawned on her and she knew exactly who this woman was, she would never forget those eyes or that voice.

"Cassandra July, what on earth are you doing here? I thought you stayed in New York" Shelby smirked back at cassandra but it was a playful smirk, the same one they used to use back in college when they were flirting with each other.

"Oh you know me Shel, I never stay in one place for too long, how've you been?" the question was asked in a very careful tone, it was almost like Cassandra didn't want to upset Shelby.

"You could have told me you was back Cassie, and I've been fine, thanks, how've you been?" Cassie could tell that Shelby was a little stand off-ish but she knew the brunette very well, it may have been around 15-16 years since they last seen each other but she knew Shelby wouldn't have changed that much, Shelby wasn't one for change.

Cassie looked Shelby in the eye and noticed that the woman wasn't looking back in to hers. "Why would I let you know I was back? you ran off Shel, I don't owe you anything and besides I've only been back 2 weeks"

Cassies tone of voice wasn't mean or harsh it was truthful, Shelby knew she was right and couldn't argue with her and she didn't know what to say.

A few seconds later the staff in the restaurant called Cassies name to let her know her food was ready, Cassie stood up and grabbed her bags before turning back towards Shelby and giving her a half smile. "Listen Shel, if you wanna go get coffee or something heres my number, ring me or text me and we'll meet up okay, the balls in your court"

Shelby took the piece of paper that Cassie had wrote her number on and nodded towards the blonde. Cassie smiled a sad smile at the coach and felt a little guilty for saying what she said but she wasn't Cassandra July if she wasn't completely honest. Cassie walked out of the restaurant with her food and hope that Shelby Corcoran would text or ring her soon.

Soon Shelbys food was ready and she collected it from the staff before back towards her car and making her way home to her daughter, she really needed to chill out with her kid and a good movie tonight.

Rachel and Santana were relaxing in Shelbys living room, the older woman had rang and told Rachel she was on her way home with dinner for the pair of them and Rachel had asked if there was enough for Santana as well. To be honest Shelby didn't want to spend her Friday evening surrounded by teenagers but she couldn't say no to her only daughter, especially when she knew she was working up the courage to ask Santana out.

"So midge, its your birthday soon right?" Santana asked with excitement in her voice.

"Yep, 18th of December, why?" Rachel was extremely skeptical of Santanas motives.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do something"

"Like what?"

Santana sat and thought for a second before replying. "We could ask Shelby if she'd let you have a birthday party" Santana smiled a devious looking smile.

"No, 1) I'm pretty sure Shelby would say no anyway and 2) who the hell am I going to invite, you're my only friend" Rachel glared at Santana and saw the girl look slightly guilty for even suggesting a party.

"Okay…. why don't me, you and Shelby go somewhere?" Santana shrugged.

"Where are we gonna go and you'd really want to take a trip with my mom?" Rachel was again skeptical of Santanas reasons behind wanting to do something for her birthday.

"Your moms pretty cool and I reckon we'd have a great time, plus you cant do nothing for your birthday midge"

"Trust me when I say I'm used to doing nothing for my birthday, now please leave it alone" Rachel gave Santana a sad smile before she stood up and made her way towards the kitchen to get her and Santana a drink.

Santana could see the hurt and pain in Rachels eyes when she spoke about not doing anything for her birthday, she was determined to get Rachel out for her 17th and she would drag Shelby in to if she had to.

"Fine, i'll leave it, what did Shelby get for dinner?" Santana was starving, she hadn't eaten anything since Rachels pancakes this morning.

"I dont know, she never said but she seemed kind of distant when I spoke to her, she should be home soon though" Rachel was wondering why her mom was so far away on the phone, did she do something wrong or had her mom just had a hectic day, she was sure she'd find out soon.

Rachel and Santana fell in to a comfortable silence as they drank their soda and waited for Shelby to arrive home with their dinner.

They kept sneaking glances when the other wasn't looking, Rachel smiled to herself as she made her way back to the living room, maybe now was the time to bring up her feelings. If she doesn't do it now maybe she wont ever do it. Rachel thought about it for a few minutes before she finally decided to tell her friend how she feels.

"Santana, can I talk to you about something?" Rachel wouldn't make eye contact and kept her head down as she spoke.

"Of course you can midge, whats going on?" Santana noticed how Rachel wouldn't look at her and thought it was strange because Rachel was always full of confidence and right now she didn't seem all that confident.

"I have something that I need to tell you, but when I start you cant interrupt and you have to listen to me carefully and really try to understand what I'm saying, Okay?" Rachel knew she was rambling but she couldn't stop herself, she was so nervous, her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest.

"Okay midge, I promise I wont interrupt and i'll listen carefully" Santana was being deadly serious, which was unusual for the Latina.

As Rachels heart continued to beat out of her chest she tried to think of the best way to start this conversation, did she rip off the bandage or approach it slowly and carefully. She finally looked up at her friend and noticed that she was waiting for Rachel to start talking.

"I dont really know how to start this conversation to be honest with you, I've been thinking about the many way I should approach this subject for a long time now. I just want you to know first of all that nothing will change between me and you, we will always be friends because I never want to ruin the friendship that we have" Again Rachel was rambling.

Santana was staring at her friend in complete confusion, she had no idea what Rachel was trying to say "What are you going on about Rach?"

"I think I've fallen in love with you, which is odd because I've never even been attracted to women before, but you're different, your special, and you're always there for me and I really appreciate it. I completely understand if you don't feel the same way, all I ask is that you don't leave me as a friend because I need you San, I need you to be there when I argue with my mom or when my dads come back, so please if you don't feel the same way just tell me now and we'll just remain friends"

Santana sat in her chair staring at Rachel, she was in complete shock and didn't know what to say. Slowly Santana smiled at her friend and reached for her hand.

"Rachel, slow down okay, we will always be friends it doesn't matter what you tell me, I know that this friendship is relatively new but you really are the best friend that I've ever had, that includes Quinn, so even if I didn't like you back we would still be friends"

Rachel didn't quite catch what Santana was saying and looked down at her feet as she twirled her hair.

Santana could tell that Rachel didn't quite get what she was saying and decided to take it clearer, she grabbed the short girls chin and made her look in to her eyes.

"Rachel, I think I'm falling in love with you too" Santana said with the biggest smile on her face.

The hispanic girl was leaning in to the brunette when suddenly the front door opened and the 2 girls jumped apart.

Shelby walked through the front door and noticed the awkward energy between the 2 teenagers, she chose to ignore it and went straight to the kitchen to sort out the food.

After everyone had eaten dinner Santana excused herself and went home, she never got another chance to talk to Rachel about what they had previously spoke about but she knew they'd either text each other later or talk at school. Before Santana left she could tell there was something on Shelbys mind but decided not to bother the woman and left it to Rachel to sort out.

Shelby and Rachel were in the living room, Shelby had a glass of red wine and was scrolling through her phone whilst Rachel had a glass of water and was watching her mother closely.

"Are you going to stare at me all night?" Shelby asked her daughter without even looking up.

"Well I was planning to yes, whats wrong mom? you've been distant all afternoon and its not like you" Rachels voice was riddled with concern for her mother, she just wanted to know why she was so down, she was fine this morning.

"Look Rachel, I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired and I need a decent nights sleep thats all" Shelby knew she was lying to her daughter but what was she meant to say oh, I ran in to my ex at the restaurant and now my feelings are all over the place?

"Mom, if you don't want to tell me thats fine but don't lie to me, I just want to help you like you help me" Rachel was sincere and she looked in her moms eyes as she spoke and noticed the unshed tears that were in her mothers beautiful green eyes.

"Fine, I ran in to an old friend today at the chinese take away and it kind of made me feel a little nostalgic and its brought back some old feelings that I thought had gone away, there are you happy" Shelby wiped at her eyes and tried to hide her emotions from her daughter.

"So you ran in to an ex" Rachel said with a sly smile on her face that Shelby did not appreciate.

"Yes, now wipe that stupid smile off your face, okay" Shelby stood up and moved towards the kitchen for another glass of wine.

Rachel was hot on her tail and followed her mother in to the kitchen and helped herself to another glass of water.

"So are you going to see this person again? whats this persons name? Can I meet them?" Rachel was getting a little too excited for Shelbys liking and she glared down at her child.

"I dont know, Her name is Cassie and No you aren't going to meet her any time soon" Again Shelby walked away from her daughter and was about to go to start walking up the spiral staircase when she felt her daughter holding on to her arm.

"She broke your heart didn't she" Rachel said to the older brunette with slight sadness in her voice.

Shelby was getting irritated now, she was making it clear that she didn't want to talk about Cassandra, why was her daughter pressing the issue, she couldn't keep her cool anymore.

"RACHEL! first of all that isn't any of your business and I don't want to talk about this anymore" Rachel was taken aback by Shelbys sudden out burst and took a few steps away from the woman. Clearly coach Corcoran was coming out to play.

"I just wanted to help"

Shelby sighed and turned away from Rachel, she continued to walk up the stairs and decided to get ready for bed.

Downstairs Rachel was a little shocked that her mother just walked away from her, she was expecting an apology or something from her. As she stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up at where her mom just went she heard her phone vibrate indicating that she had a message.

She was expecting it to be Santana but what she saw literally took all the breath out of her body. It had been close to 3 months since she heard from her fathers and they decided to just text her.

 _"_ _Hey Rachel, I hope you're being good, me and your father wont be home anytime soon, we've wired you more money in to your account, don't break anything and don't spend the money on anything unnecessary, we don't know when we'll be back, maybe we'll see you soon Rach."_

Rachel was angry, she was so angry but she was also devastated that her dads thought so little of her that after 3 months they finally text her and tell her they aren't coming home any time soon. She wanted her mom but she was pissed off and she didn't want to bother her. Rachel decided to take herself up to her bedroom and started sobbing uncontrollably as soon as she sat down on her bed.

She had never felt quite so alone as she did in that moment.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N- Sorry for the delay, I try and post as often as possible but sometimes its hard to find the time to sit and write a chapter, heres Chapter 9, let me know what you think I really appreciate everyones reviews and suggestions.

The next morning Rachel she wasn't ready to tell Shelby just yet about the message from her dads. Before going downstairs for breakfast she sat on her bed just thinking about her dads and how they could just leave her in the lurch like this, did they not care about her at all? Why would they go through so much to have a child and then just abandon it like it was nothing. Its not even like they had actually told Rachel they were never coming back, they've just left her wondering and scared, for they know she could be dead right now.

Rachel looked at the clock beside her bed and decided she needed to start getting ready for school, she wasn't entirely comfortable talking to Shelby yet, after her outburst last night she didn't know if Shelby was still angry, they hadn't spoke since older brunette stormed off. Rachel decided to text Santana before getting ready.

"Hey San, any chance I could get a ride to school this morning? R x"

"Sure thing Midge, be there soon, San x"

Rachel sighed in relief that she wouldn't have to be in the car with Shelby. She decided to get ready school and avoid Shelby at all costs.

When she heard Santana pull up outside her house the short brunette ran down the stairs and out the door as quickly as possible. She barely even heard Shelby shouting her name. She did see Shelby at the front door though as Santana was driving off and she looked a little hurt by Rachels actions. The singer found that she was also hurt by Shelbys actions from the previous day.

"RACHEL!" Santana shouted when she noticed the brunette wasn't listening to a work she was saying.

"What? Sorry San, I was in my own little world" Rachel sighed.

"Clearly Midge, Whats up with you? You was fine when I left your house last night" Santana couldn't help but be a little concerned that this was about their previous encounter the day before.

"I had an argument with Shelby last night, I think I may have pushed her too far, She practically screamed at me" Rachel was close to tears as she spoke, the last thing she wanted was to push her mom away, she needed her.

"What did you argue about?" Santana could see how hard Rachel was trying to hold back her tears but she knew she was failing, just then a tear slipped down the brunettes cheek.

"She told me how she ran in to an ex at the chinese place and how it made her nostalgic and she thought her feelings had gone away but now she wasn't sure and I kept asking her questions like are you going to see her again? whats her name? and she flew off the handle and told me it wasn't any of my business, then she went to her room and I didn't see her again for the rest of the night and I ran out this morning so we haven't spoke since" Rachel was on the verge of sobbing now and Santana could tell how hurt she was.

As Santana pulled in to the school parking lot and parked her car she reached over to Rachel and pulled her in to a tight hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Santana pulled away and wiped Rachels tears with her thumb and gave the girl a slight smile.

"Listen to me Midge, I think Shelby just needed a little time to process her encounter with her ex and figure out her feelings, you didn't give her time for that. She's clearly a bit hurt by this person and you asking all those questions sent her over the edge, maybe she doesn't know what to do and she felt like you were trying to force her hand a little. You should talk to her, text her and apologise or wait until you go home tonight. I'm almost certain she feels awful for how it went down last night and she probably wanted to talk this morning but you never gave her the chance"

Rachel had never seen Santana so serious and she certainly had never heard her give advice like that, she knew she needed to apologise to Shelby, she clearly pushed her too far.

The diva wrapped Santana in a tight embrace and whispered in her ear "Thank you San, you're a good friend", the short brunette considered telling her friend about the message from her dads but the bell was about to go for first period and she had let out enough emotions for the time being.

The final bell rang and Santana and Rachel went there separate ways. During their first period all either girl could think about was how they could bring up the conversation they had yesterday without making it awkward, then Santana suddenly had an idea.

Shelby's day was going about as she expected, shit. Her daughter ran out of the house to avoid her this morning, her Glee club was seriously lacking enthusiasm during rehearsal and all she could think about when she wasn't thinking about Rachel was Cassandra July.

She had looked at the woman's number several times on her phone screen debating whether or not to ring her and ask her to meet up for coffee but she kept losing her nerve. What was she meant to say anyway, Sorry I made you leave me?. Her heart still hurt, she always wondered why her relationships never worked out and now she realises its because her heart never healed after Cassie.

Looking down at her phone she knew she needed to take the leap of faith and take the first step towards helping her heart heal, even just a little bit. She went in her messages and began typing out a message she had wanted to send for years.

"Hey Cass, its Shelby, I cant get you out my head since I seen you yesterday and I was wondering if you wanted to maybe meet me in the Lima Bean today, I feel like we should talk, let me know..Shel x"

Shelby sent the message and instantly her heart started to beat out of her chest, she was nervous but excited and scared, she was a complete mixture of emotions. She stared at her phone just waiting for Cassie to text her back, after a good minute of just staring she decided to actually do some work and started preparing for her next class.

Rachel was on her way for lunch when she heard Santana shouting her from down the other end of the corridor, she turned and watched as her friend was running towards her, she looked a little frantic.

"Hey San, you okay?" the singer asked as her friend approached her.

"Yeah Midge but I need you to come with me okay" Santana said with a sly smile on her face.

"Okay… but where are we going? OMG you're not going to slushy me or something are you? I thought we were past all that?" Rachel began to slightly panic.

Santana looked at Rachel with a little sympathy and little hurt "No Rachel, we are well and truly past that, but please, come with me".

Rachel felt a little guilty for even suggesting that Santana would do that to her and just nodded her head and followed Santana down the corridor and towards the auditorium.

"What are we going in here Santana?" Rachel said with confusion written all over her face.

"Sit here and wait, it will all become clear in a few minutes" Santana smiled and pushed Rachel in to the directors seat that faced the stage.

Santana ran away from Rachel and went behind the stage curtain. The short brunette was still very confused as to what her friend had planned. She was so curious she went to stand up and follow Santana when suddenly the curtain rose and she saw Santana stood in the middle of the stage with a microphone. Rachel watched as Santana took a deep breath, clearly nervous about something, and waited for the Latina to speak.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, we had a conversation yesterday that we didn't really get a chance to finish because your mom walked in, I'm up here right now so we can finish what we started. Like I said yesterday Midge I'm falling in love with you too and I don't think I've ever truly been this happy before. You light up my world Rach, when you text me I cant control the smile that creeps across my face. When you stand close to me its like I cant even breathe anymore and I have to control myself so I don't reach out and grab you hand. But theres only really one way I can truly express how I feel and thats by singing to you, so listen closely"

Tears were running down Rachels face as she listened to Santanas speech, her smile was so big she was getting cheek ache but she didn't care because what Santana said was exactly how she felt too.

Santana started singing Something by The Beatles and couldn't look away from Rachels beautiful brown eyes as she sang.

Rachel felt like she was in a trance as she watched Santana sing to her, she caught up in the beautiful Latinas eyes and could feel her heart bursting with love for this amazing girl. She had never felt so loved in her life, not by Finn and certainly not by Jesse. She needed to hold Santana in her arms.

When Santana was singing the final note she closed her eyes and when she finished and opened her eyes she noticed that Rachel had disappeared from her seat. Her eyes began to fill with tears and her heart began to break, she looked at the floor trying to hold her tears in.

Suddenly Santana felt someone lift her chin and instantly she was looking in to those beautiful brown eyes again, Rachel wiped away the tear that had escaped from the cheerleaders eye just as Santana had done for her earlier that morning.

Rachel smiled at the Spanish beauty and leaned in slightly before completely closing the gap and connecting their lips in the most passionate kiss either of them had ever experienced. Rachel had never known what true love really felt like until this very moment.

Shelby was working on a set list for Vocal Adrenalin when her phone vibrated on the table, she had been waiting for what felt like hours for Cassie to text her back and had lost hope that she would. She glanced down at her phone and seen Cassies name light up her screen.

Her heart started racing and she had to gather the courage before she could look at the message. Finally she picked up her phone and looked at the text message.

"Hey Shel, I've been thinking about you too, sure, is 4pm good for you? Cass x"

Shelby found herself smiling down at her phone and her heart fluttered with nerves and excitement.

"4 o'clock is perfect, see you there, Shel x"

She looked at the time on her phone, it was 2 o'clock, she needed to pack up her stuff and go get Rachel from school. Shelby hadn't heard from Rachel all day and was becoming increasingly concerned that she wasn't going to forgive her for shouting. She wanted to text her daughter and tell her how sorry she was but she felt like this needed to be done in person.

Shelby made her way out of the school and towards her car. She was thinking about what she wanted to say to Rachel as she drove to the girls school and kept drawing a blank, she didn't know the words that would make this better.

As she pulled in to Mckinley High School she watched as all the students began to leave the school and looked around the parking lot for Rachel, she couldn't see her daughter anywhere and figured she was running a little late because the girl certainly didn't have Glee practice today.

Shelby got out her phone to text the girl and ask where she was when a flash of brown caught her eye. She looked round and saw her daughter talking to Santana, Shelby noticed the goofy smile on her daughters face and couldn't help but smile along with her.

Shelby was caught off guard when Rachel leaned up and captured Santanas lips with her own, Her eyes were practically coming out of their sockets as she stared at the scene in front of her, when had this happened? she asked herself.

She couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Rachel hadn't told her about this but then why would she, its not like she was very forth coming about her relationships.

Rachel pulled away from Santana and noticed that her mom was waiting for her.

"I gotta go San, Shelby's waiting, wish me luck " Rachel said with a little sadness in her voice.

"Remember what I said okay Midge" Santana winked at her new girlfriend, pecked her lips and walked towards her car waving at Shelby as she passed by.

Rachel walked towards her moms car and hesitated slightly before opening the car door and sitting in the passenger seat. She already felt like crying and she hadn't even said anything yet.

Starting this conversation was not going to be easy for Shelby so she decided to have a neutral conversation first.

"How was your day?" Shelby asked her daughter as she drove away from the school and towards her house.

"It was fine, yours?"

"Okay I guess, I missed you this morning" Shelby figured that was a good opening.

"I was in a hurry" Rachel was doing her best to stay calm and not cry but she could already feel herself failing miserably.

"Right…" The older brunette didn't believe the girl but she didn't know how to respond either.

The rest of the car journey was spent in awkward silence, neither brunette knew what to say to the other.

When Shelby pulled in to her driveway she expected her daughter to climb out of the car instantly and slam the door shut before storming in to the house, she was surprised by how calm and collected Rachel seemed right now as they walked towards the house in silence.

They walked in to the house and as Shelby turned around to close the front door she felt arms wrap around her waist and instantly her eyes filled with tears, she placed a hand on the tiny girls arm and gently unwrapped the brunettes tight hold. She turned around and noticed that her baby girl looked a little hurt that Shelby had taken her arms off her waist.

Before Rachel could say anything about it Shelby grabbed her beautiful daughter and pulled her in to a tight embrace. She felt Rachel tears begin to soak in to her shirt and then noticed that she too was crying, the older brunette ran her fingers through Rachels hair as she held her and tried to comfort her.

After a few minutes Shelby pulled away from the hug and held Rachels hand as she pulled her towards the sofa, she pushed Rachel to sit on it and then decided to sit in front of her on the coffee table so they were face to face.

"Listen to me Rachel okay, I need you to really hear me right now" Shelby lifted the girls head and wiped away the tears that stained the girls cheeks. "I am so unbelievably sorry for the way I spoke to you yesterday, I shouldn't have walked away after shouting at you and I need you to know that I didn't mean what I said, of course my life is your business just like your life is my business"

Rachel was looking her mother in the eye and could see how sincere she was being, She reached out her hand and wiped away the tears that were running down her moms face.

"I understand why you shouted and walked away, I pushed you too far, I shouldn't have asked all those questions when you clearly weren't ready to talk about Cassandra. I spoke to Santana today about what happened and she helped me understand why you reacted that way, you're heart broken and I'm sorry mama"

Shelby looked at her daughter with so much love as she heard her words, her baby girl had just called her mama for the first time and she couldn't be happier.

"Yes Baby, I'm heart broken, but you don't need to apologise none of this is your fault, lets just forget it ever happened okay"

Rachel just nodded her head and gave her mom a watery smile.

"you called me mama" Shelby said with the biggest smile on her face and fresh tears on her face.

"Well thats what you are isn't it" Rachel said sarcastically and Shelby just laughed and nodded.

Shelby looked at her watch and seen that it was coming close to 3:30pm and knew she needed to leave soon to meet Cassie at the coffee shop, she sat down next to her daughter and pulled her in to a side hug.

"I gotta go out in a minute is that okay?" Shelby wanted to make sure that her daughter was okay being left in the house alone for a couple of hours before she left.

"Sure, where are you going?" Rachel sat up and looked Shelby in the eye, she noticed the slight smile and glint in her eye.

"I'm going to the Lima Bean to meet Cassie"

Rachel smiled at her mother and hugged her again before letting her go, standing up and smiling down at her mom.

"You should wash your face first Mama, you cant go on a date with tear stains on your cheeks" Rachel joked as she walked towards the spiral stairs, she hoped this date would help heal her mothers broken heart.

Shelby smiled at her daughters retreating form and shouted towards the stairs "Oh by the way when I get back we are having a little conversation about this relationship you're suddenly in with Santana, I seen you pair making out at the school"

Rachel turned and looked at her mom with a little fear in her eyes but Shelby just laughed at her daughters expression and made her way towards the bathroom to tidy herself up.

Shelby turned up at the Lima Bean at exactly 4 o'clock, she walked inside and ordered herself a cappuccino, she looked around the coffee shop for Cassie but clearly she wasn't here yet, the girl was known for being late.

She got a table in the back of the shop, away from big ears and prying eyes, this conversation needed to be kept private.

It felt like she'd been staring at the entrance for hours but it had actually only been 5 minutes. Suddenly she noticed the most beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes that could only belong to one person. Her heart began to beat a little faster and her palms began to sweat. Then their eyes met from across the room.

Cassie indicated that she was going to grab a coffee before making her way over to the counter, Shelby found herself staring at the dancers back as she ordered, it was like she was in a trance.

Then the dancer turned around, coffee in hand and made her way towards the beautiful brunette.

"Hey Shel" Cassie said as she took a seat across from her ex girlfriend.

"Hey Cassie" Shelby felt a little awkward to be honest she didn't know what to say or do.

"How've you been lately?" Cassie asked genuinely curious.

"I've been okay I guess, a lots changed recently but its the good kind of change I think, how've you been?" Shelby smiled slightly thinking about Rachel.

"I'm good, I own my own dance studio now and its doing really well" Shelby noticed the little bit of sadness in her ex's eyes, Cassie was a hard ass and she very rarely shown emotion and hid it very well but Shelby was always able to see through the dancers mask.

"Cass, I've missed you, like I've really fucking missed you, I get that its been over 10 years but I think about you all the time, sometimes I look through our old pictures and just sit on my bedroom floor and cry, I understand that I broke your heart when I left but I broke my own as well Cassie and its still not healed" Shelby rambled, she knew it was best to just get all her feelings out in the open as quickly as possible else she would chicken out.

"If thats how you feel why did you leave in the first place Shelby" Cassies tone was a little harsh, clearly the woman was still heart broken.

"I had no choice Cass…"

"Thats bullshit Shelby and you know it, you always had a choice" Cassie cut Shelby off mid explanation, she didn't want some generic excuse she wanted the truth.

"Just listen to me Cassandra" Shelby was a little forceful and Cassie was taken a back by the use of her full name, Shelby never calls her Cassandra.

"Fine, go ahead"

"16 years ago on December 18th I gave birth to a baby girl, she wasn't mine though not really, I was a surrogate for a gay couple, they really wanted a child and I could give them one plus they were paying a large sum of money that would keep me comfortable in New York for at least 2 years, I was 19 and very stupid" Shelby took a second to compose herself a little, she wiped the tears falling down her cheeks and carried on with her story.

"When they took her away from me they took a piece of my heart with them. A year later I met you, I had just transferred from NYU to Ohio State because I wanted to be closer to the baby girl I had given away and New York wasn't my dream anymore. Suddenly you became my dream, you and my baby girl thats all I ever wanted. Those 4 years with you were the best of my life but I spent everyday feeling guilty about not telling you about my daughter, eventually it all became too much and my guilt took over and I couldn't look at you without wanting to break down and cry, so I left because it was easier than telling you I'd been lying for 4 years"

Shelby was openly sobbing now, she knew this conversation was going to be hard and she knew that there was a possibility that Cassie may never forgive her but she still had a little hope.

"So why didn't you just tell me when we first met?" Cassie didn't really know what else to say, she was shocked to say the least.

"It was too hard, it had only been a year since I gave her away and talking about it wasn't an option then, my heart was shattered, by the time it had healed enough it was too late and we were already deep in to our relationship, I didn't want to lose you by admitting my biggest regret"

Cassie nodded her head and was deep in thought, she understood how hard that must of been for Shelby but she also wished that she would have just told her everything before walking out of her life, they could have worked through it.

"I would have understood you know, if you had told me all this before you left I would have understood, she didn't need to leave Shel" Cassie leaned across the table and wiped away her ex girlfriends tears.

"I know you would have understood but I didn't wanna be the girlfriend with all the baggage, I thought I was setting you free but when I sat and really thought about it realised how fucking stupid I was, by then it was too late"

Shelby reached across the table to held Cassie's hand in her own, she looked deep in to her clear blue eyes and said something she'd been wanting to say for years now "I am so sorry Cassie"

Cassie looked in to the brunettes green eyes and saw how sincere she was being, she squeezed the singers hand and smiled "It's okay Shel, I get it, Do you know where she is?"

Shelbys whole face instantly lit up and Cassie couldn't help but smile at how happy Shelby looked in that moment.

"She's at my house right now".

Shelby told Cassie the whole story about how she met Rachel the first time, what she did after they met and what happened with Rachels dads. Cassie was listening intently and she could see how much her ex loved her daughter, that fact just made Cassies love for Shelby deepen.

"So whats this girls name anyway? you've told me everything about her except a name" Cassie laughed.

"Rachel. My babies name is Rachel"

After talking for a few more minutes they decided to leave the Lima Bean and head home, Cassie walked Shelby to her car, she felt a little sad that she was leaving the brunette and felt a sudden urge to hug her.

"So, do you think we could do this again?" Shelby asked the tall blonde as she unlocked her car.

"No, I think we should go to dinner next time and I wanna meet that daughter of yours so maybe you could bring her along" Cassie smirked at Shelby as she seen the shocked look on the brunettes face.

"You wanna have dinner?" Shelby mumbled and looked down at her feet.

"Yes, I think we should have a proper date" Cassie said with so much enthusiasm.

"Okay" was all Shelby could manage to say at that moment.

Cassie reached out and took a hold of Shelbys chin and listed the woman head, she looked in the singers green eyes and placed a tiny kiss on her lips. She pulled away and smiled down at her.

"I'll text you Shel" and with those words Cassie was gone.

Shelbys heart was beating out of her chest and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She placed her finger on her lips and looked across the parking lot in the direction Cassie had walked.

She looked at her watch and noticed it was nearly 6 o'clock, she needed to get home to her daughter, they still needed to have that conversation Rachel was fearing, Shelby giggled to herself as she remember the look on Rachels face when she mentioned it earlier, the singer got in her car and drove towards her house with a bright smile on her face.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- I just wanna say thank you to everyone that has left reviews on both of my current stories. I especially wanna say thanks to LexieGrey2003 who has given me such lovely comment on both this story and One Mistake, I really appreciate it when you review and hope you continue to do so

Thanks, Nx

Shelby returned home around 15 minutes later, when she walked in the lounge she noticed that Rachel was nowhere to be found, she smirked to herself and just knew that her daughter was hiding from her.

She made her way up the stairs and knocked on Rachels door, when she didn't receive an answer she decided to just walk in and her daughter was sat in the window seat and was trying to hide behind the curtain

"Rach, theres no point even attempting to hide because one way or another we are talking about Santana" Shelby said smirking to herself when she watched Rachel come out from behind the curtain with a slight blush on her face.

"Do we really have to?" Rachel whined.

"Yes, my love, we do" Shelby walked towards her child and sat on the window seat with her.

"So lets do this quickly, what do you wanna know?

Shelby had to laugh at Rachels need to get this over and done with.

"Well…When did this develop?" Shelby said as she watched her daughter smile at the memory of how her and Santana confessed their feelings for each other.

Rachel retold the whole story to Shelby in hopes that she wouldn't ask another question and just leave her alone for the night.

"Thats so cute" Shelby said as she leaned over to Rachel and pinched the short girls cheeks like she was a 5 year old, Rachel smacked her moms hands away and glared at her as the older brunette laughed.

"I dont need to have the safe sex talk, obviously, but I do want you to know that whenever you feel ready to take that step I want you to come and talk to me about it first okay?"

Rachel cringed at her moms words but nodded her head, mainly to appease Shelby and end this conversation sooner rather than later.

"Good girl" Shelby winked at Rachel and went to get up but felt a hand on her upper arm and looked round to see Rachel holding her in place, she frowned at her daughters smile

"Yes?" the older brunette asked.

"How did your date go?" Rachel asked with amusement in her voice.

Shelby laughed at her daughter antics and pulled her arm out of her grasp "It wasn't a date Rachel, but my meeting went fine thank you"

Rachel stared at her mom with a smirk "Whatever helps you sleep at night Mama"

Shelby glared jokingly at her daughter and went to walk out the room "Goodnight Rachel" she said as she left her daughter sat in her room.

The next morning Shelby was up early and making breakfast for her kid, Rachel was still upstairs getting ready for school when the door knocked, she had a pretty good idea of who it was going to be.

She opened the door and as usual Santana was standing in her door way.

"Good morning Santana" Shelby said overly cheerful.

"Hello Coach C, jesus you're cheerful, what happened last night, did you get laid" Santana laughed to herself slightly and then immediately stopped when she seen Shelbys facial expression.

"First of all Miss Lopez I'm not always a hard faced bitch, thats reserved for when I'm coaching and secondly don't ever talk about about my sex life again, its disturbing and also none of your business" Shelby was looking Santana directly in the eye as she spoke, she knew the Latina was a little afraid of her and she thought a little fear was good for her next conversation.

"Anyway, Miss Lopez, come sit in the kitchen with me while I finish breakfast, I think we need to talk"

"I didn't do it Coach C I promise" Santana blurted out causing Shelby to look at her like she was crazy.

"You're not in trouble….yet" Shelby said smirking to herself as she walked to the kitchen.

Santana rolled her eyes behind Shelbys back and followed her.

"Rachel told me last night about the relationship you and her have entered in to…" Shelby was talking as she made breakfast, she had her back to Santana as she looked in the fridge and didn't see the slight panic that crossed Santanas face.

"I mean she didn't really need to tell me the pair of you were practically making out in front of the school when I picked her up yesterday" Shelby turned around and looked at the Latina as she spoke and see the girl cringe slightly.

"Sorry about that Coach C"

"Thats okay Santana, I just wanna make it very clear that if you break my daughters heart or do anything to hurt her you will regret it" Shelby was smirking slightly at the girl in front of her, there was still slight fear in her eyes and Shelby knew she was making herself heard.

"Coach C…I'm falling in love with your daughter and the last think I wanna do is hurt her in anyway, but even if I wasn't falling in love with her I wouldn't hurt her simply because you scare the crap out of me…dont tell anyone that" Santana spoke with a confident voice and watched as Shelby laughed at the girls final statement.

"I'm glad we understand each other then Miss Lopez, and don't worry your 'badass' reputation is safe with me" Shelby had continued making breakfast when she heard her daughter come in the kitchen.

"Good Morning love" Shelby said just as cheerful as she had when she answered the door to Santana.

"Morning mama" Rachel said as she hugged her mom, the short brunette then turned to Santana sat on the girls lap. They started making out when Shelby turned her back and put the girls breakfast on plates. When Shelby turned around she looked at the scene in front of her and decided she was not having that at her kitchen tabled, she grabbed Rachel by her arm and pulled her off her girlfriend and sat her daughter on a separate chair at the other end of the table.

"Now isn't that much better" Shelby said smiling at the duo who were both glaring at her.

"Not really, no" Rachel mumbled, to herself mainly.

The girls ate breakfast, said goodbye to Shelby and started making their way to school.

Rachels day had been going very well, she hadn't been slushied, she suspected that had something to do with Santana though, she hadn't been called Man Hands or Dwarf and she hadn't been shoved in to any lockers, so over all it has been a very good day.

And then everything went to shit, first it was some of the cheerleaders thinking it was funny to push her in the bathroom stall and lock her in the there, then it was Karofsky dumping a slushy on her head and quickly running away so Santana didn't see him and now its her Dads.

To be honest she wasn't expecting to hear from them again for a while, they took 3 months to send the first message for fuck sake.

When Rachel had finished cleaning herself up and was about to make her way to the choir room for Glee she felt her phone vibrate, thinking it was Santana or Shelby she pulled it out of her bag and didn't bother to look at the person who had sent it.

"Hello again Rachel, we'll be home soon, probably about a week or so, make sure the house is clean, nothing is broken and there are no random animals in my house. I will not tolerate you having another stray pet in my home, remember last time, good, see you soon, Dad"

Rachel began to silently panic, her dads were coming home and she didn't want to go back to their house, she wanted to stay with her mom but she knew her dads wouldn't let her do that. What was she going to do?

She put her phone in her bag and made her way to Glee, she wasn't feeling much like singing right now but she knew that if she didn't turn up everyone would either celebrate or ask questions.

Once she walked in the door she noticed that her girlfriend had saved her a seat, she gave her a small smile and sat down next to her. The short brunette didn't notice Santana frown at her.

"Hey, are you okay Midge?" Santana whispered to the singer.

"Yeah" Rachels answer was short and her tone was distant, Santana knew something was going on and she would find out what it was after Glee rehearsal.

Once Glee ended Santana sidled up to Rachel and kissed her on the cheek, the shorter of the 2 was packing away her sheet music and smiled at her girlfriends gesture.

Santana could tell that something was still bothering Rachel so she decided to get right to the point.

"Whats going on Rach, you've been fine all day but now you're distant and you keep spacing out"

Rachel knew she needed to tell Santana, she needed someone to help her figure out what to do but she didn't want to admit that she was scared of what her dads might do when they found out she was currently living with Shelby.

Santana could see that Rachel was in her own world again.

"RACHEL!" she started the girl out of her thoughts and watched as the brunette went to sit on one of the chairs that hadn't been put away from rehearsal yet.

"My dads text me the other day and again today" Rachel mumbled, Santana had to strain to hear what the girl was saying.

"And what did those assholes want?" Santana said with a slight anger in her voice.

"The first message was just to say they wouldn't be home soon and they've given me more money in my account, todays message was to say they'll be back next week and everything better be in order at THEIR home" Rachels eyes filled with unshed tears as she spoke.

Santana knew Rachel had more to say so before she voiced her opinion she let her girlfriend finished what she wanted to say, clearly she needed to get this off her chest.

"he called it "my home", they don't even consider their house as MY home, its just somewhere that I'm living and taking up space to them. I don't want to go back to that house and feel that lonely again, they'd never let me see you the way Shelby does, I would spend all of my days on my own in my bedroom, I cant go back to that, you need to help me San" Rachel had tears streaming down her face now and was looking at Santana with pleading eyes.

"I will help you any way I can Rach, you know that, but I think you need to tell Shelby, she is the only one that can really help you babe" Santana wiped away Rachels tears with her thumb and pulled her close to her chest.

Rachel knew the Latina was right, if anyone was going to be any kind of help it was going to be Shelby. But what if Shelby decides that fighting for Rachel was too much hassle and effort and decides to just leave again. So many things were going through her head right now.

Santana pulled away from the singer and looked her in the eye "Trust me, Shelby will be more than understanding and she will fight for you, you're too precious to lose Berry"

Rachel smiled at her girlfriends cuteness and kissed her on the lips before nodding her head in agreement and grabbing her stuff. She was going to talk to Shelby tonight whether she wanted to or not, she needed her help.

Rachel arrived home with Santana around 15 minutes later, Santana had already told her that she wasn't coming in because she felt Shelby and Rachel needed their privacy for this.

"Remember Rach if you need me just ring me and i'll be right back" She smiled slightly at her girlfriend, she could see the hesitance in the girls eyes but she could also see determination.

"I know San, thanks" Rachel pecked her girlfriend on the lips and got out the car, she walked up to the front door before turning around and waving at the Latina.

She walked through the door and looked around the room, she couldn't see Shelby anywhere, she knew she was here because her car was outside.

"Mom!" Rachel shouted because she couldn't be bothered to walk around the house looking for her.

"Laundry room Rach" Shelby shouted back.

"Hey mama" Rachel said as she entered the laundry room and seen her mom sorting out her washing.

"Did you have a good day at school baby" Shelby spoke without looking away from the separation of the colours and blacks.

"It was okay I guess, listen, mom, can I talk to you? its kind of important"

Shelby instantly turned to face her daughter and noticed the serious look on her face, she stood up and made her way over to the short brunette.

"You can talk to me about anything Rach, lets go in the lounge" Shelby lead the way in to the lounge and sat on the sofa and motioned for Rachel to sit next to her.

Once Rachel had sat down Shelby placed a comforting hand on the girls thigh and nodded her head to let Rachel know she was listening.

"I need you to let me finish before you talk okay"

"Okay…"

"So a few days a go my dads text me, they told me that they wouldn't be back for a while and that they've put more money in my savings account. Today I got another message from them telling me they're coming back next week, I know they're gonna be angry when they find out about me staying here, but Mama I don't wanna go back to being lonely and I need you" Rachel had tears streaming down her face that she only noticed when Shelby wiped them away.

"Can I talk now?" Shelby asked her daughter and smiled as the girl nodded her head.

"Listen to me baby, your dads can get as angry as they want about me because they aren't getting anywhere near you so they cant hurt you, as for you going to live with them again I promise you I will not let that happen, your home is here now and i'll make sure they know that. I'm calling my Lawyer tomorrow to get some advice though okay"

Rachel crawled on to her mothers lap and began to cuddle in to her, she whispered a thank you in the older woman's ear and kissed her cheek. Their moment was interrupted by the sound of Shelbys phone making a noise to indicate she had a message. Shelby reached in to her back pocket, with great difficulty as Rachel was still on her lap, and pulled her phone out.

"Hey Shel, how would you feel if I came to visit you this afternoon? I'm bored and I kinda miss you, Cass x"

Shelby smiled down at the message and thought about whether it was a good idea for Cassandra to come round, did she want Rachel to meet Cassie right now? I suppose I could just ask her.

"Rach, how would you feel if Cassie came round this afternoon?" Shelbys voice tried to portray confidence but she was always so nervous when she seen or spoke about Cassie now.

"Your ex-girlfriend?" Rachel said raising an eyebrow at her mother

"Yeah, if you don't want her here i'll tell her its not a good time, its totally your call Rach" Shelby knew she was coming off as neurotic right now.

"It's fine with me, i'll just ring San and it'll be like a double date" She smirked at her mother but all she got back was a glare, Rachel climbed off her moms lap and sat on the sofa in a more comfortable position as Shelby text Cassandra back.

"Hey, Cass, yeah thats fine, I've got someone here that wants to meet you anyway so we'll both be looking forward to your arrival :) Shel x"

"You've not got some kind of hooker over at your house have you? I don't think id be able to handle that, Cass x"

Shelby snorted at the message Cassie had sent her and got a very confused yet amused look from her daughter.

"No Cassie, I've let the hooker go home for the day, plus I wouldn't wanna make you jealous now would I, Shel x"

"So who is this mystery person then Corcoran? Cass x"

"Just wait and see JULY, Shel x"

"Fine, I'm on my way now anyway, Cass x"

Shelby smiled at her phone and then placed it back in her pocket, she was a little anxious about Cassies arrival but she was also very excited for Cass to meet her daughter. Rachel was still giving her funny looks because Shelby still a dopey smile plastered on her face.

"What are you smiling at? its creeping me out" Rachel said as she went freshen up, Shelby just ignored her daughter and walked upstairs to her bedroom for some peace before their guest arrived.

About 20 minutes later Shelby heard the door bell go, she rushed out of her bedroom and hurried to the door. She composed herself and straightened her clothes and hair, unaware that her daughter was looking at her like she was insane, before she answered the door.

Standing in the doorway was a very beautiful Cassandra July, neither woman said anything to each other for several seconds so Rachel decided to break the sexual tension that was making her feel nauseous.

"Jesus, at least greet the guest when you answer the door" Rachel rolled her eyes and moved past her mother to shake the hand of the blonde in her doorway.

"Hello, I'm Rachel, I'm going to assume your name is Cassandra, Please come inside, I apologise for her rudeness" Rachel smiled at Cassie and motioned for her to come inside.

Cassie laughed at the teenager and walked in to the house. Shelby had snapped out of her trance and was glaring at her child with a death glare.

"It's nice to meet you Rachel, and trust me I've seen that look on Shelbys face several times before" Shelby turned her glare from Rachel to Cassie.

"Have you lost your voice or have you just decided that you don't want to talk this evening?" Rachel asked her mother with amusement in her voice.

"Shut up Rachel and go make Cassie a cup of coffee, you still have milk and 1 sugar right?" Shelby said as she turned towards her ex lover. Cassie nodded and smiled at Rachel when she noticed the girl roll her eyes and watched as she stormed in to the kitchen.

"Come sit down Cass" Shelby held her hand out for Cassie to take and felt electricity shoot through her body when she took it, the brunette led the woman to the sofa and they sat down.

"So whats this surprise Shelb?" Cassie asked with deep curiosity.

Shelby looked towards the kitchen at her daughter and her whole face lit up as she watched the girl manoeuvre around the kitchen with such ease and acting like she'd been living with her mom for her whole life. Cassie followed the woman gaze and noticed how Shelby was looking at the young girl with absolute love and adoration.

"Please tell me you haven't started dating women that are FAR too young for you Shel" Cassie was part joking and part serious.

Shelby turned to her ex with disgust written all over her face "NO!" Shelby said with a high pitched voice that dogs could probably hear. Her mothers squeal caught Rachels attention and she stopped making coffee to earwig on the conversation going on in the kitchen.

"Then why are you staring at that teenage girl with so much love that if a police officer seen you you'd probably get arrested" Cassie was laughing at Shelbys reaction as she spoke.

"Because she's my absolute world right now Cass" Shelby said looking in to Cassandras eyes, she could see the slight confusion in them but she watched as realisation dawned on the blonde.

"How old is she Shelb?"

"16" Shelby was smiling again at the look on her ex lovers face.

"That baby girl you was telling me about yesterday, thats her isn't it" Cassie was happy for Shelby because she knew how much this would have meant to her.

"Yes, I am" Rachel smirked as she walked over with coffee for Cassie and her mom and class of water for herself.

Cassandra didn't really know what to say to the young girl, did she know that I'm her moms ex girlfriend or did she think I was just an old friend.

"I can see those wheels turning in your head Cassie, she knows that we used to be in a relationship" Shelby said as she sipped her coffee and watched Cassie go over everything she was being told.

"Well, I'm happy for you Shelb, she's obviously a great kid, I mean any off spring you have is gonna be pretty awesome to be fair" Cassie nudged Shelby and smiled at the blush that grew on her face at the compliment.

"Yeah I am pretty freaking great to be honest" Rachel said in an exasperated tone, she just wanted to be noticed and not spoken about like she wasn't there.

"Rachel, why don't you go find a take away menu and order us something to eat for dinner?" Shelby wanted to talk to the blonde privately for a few minutes.

"if you want me to leave you pair alone just say" Rachel said as she got up and went in search of a decent take away menu.

Shelby rolled her eyes at her child and looked at the woman she once called the love of her life and smiled "So, thats Rachel"

"Well she takes after you for her attitude thats for sure" Cassie laughed as Shelby hit her arm gently.

"Cass, I am absolutely terrified" Shelby sighed as she looked the blonde in the eye.

"Of what Shel?" Cassie moved closer to Shelby and placed a comforting hand on the woman back.

"Of being a parent, raising a teenager, I obviously would not change a thing, she's everything to me but I really don't wanna screw her up and I'm not exactly the nurturing type you know" Shelby was trying hard not to cry as she let all of her insecurities come to the surface.

"Shelby Corcoran, listen to me.." Cassie lifted the brunettes chin and made the woman look directly in to her eyes, "You are going to be the best mom that girl could have, you may make some mistakes along the way but everyone makes mistakes. You will not screw her up and yeah you may not be the nurturing type but if that girl needs you I know you will be there for her in a heart beat and you will comfort her and love her, I can already see the love you have for her"

Shelby was falling deeper in love with Cassandra right now, she knew she still loved her but after hearing her say those things it just confirmed that Shelbys love never truly went away.

"Thank you Cass"

Shelby was about to lean forward towards Cassies lips when she heard the doorbell, she shot out of her seat and practically ran to the door. Shelby opened the door and was greeted by a smiling Santana Lopez.

"Hello Miss Lopez" Shelby smiled down at the Latina.

"Alright Coach C, Rachel said I could come round, apparently its take away night" Santana said as she walked in to the house and made herself at home.

Shelby shook her head and closed the front door, she walked towards the lounge and seen her ex, Santana and Rachel talking.

"Hey Mom, I order us pizza, I hope thats okay" Rachel shouted over to her mom when she noticed the woman just standing there.

"Thats fine Rach, Santana I see you've met Cassie" Shelby motioned towards her ex and Santana nodded enthusiastically.

They all sat and spoke about school, work and other neutral topics until the Pizza arrived, then they all sat in the kitchen and ate. After they ate Santana and Rachel took themselves upstairs, with a warning from Shelby to keep the door open, and Shelby and Cassie went in the lounge with a bottle of red wine and 2 glasses.

Shelby poured them both a glass and sat on the sofa directly across from Cassie and just stared at her for a few seconds as she sipped her wine.

Cassie blushed under the gaze of her ex lover and tried to act like she didn't notice the woman was staring at her, but she was clearly failing.

"What are you staring at Shelb?"

The brunette smirked and looked away from the beautiful blonde sitting on her sofa "Just seeing if anything was different, your hair is still the same and you haven't changed your style, so all thats different are the wrinkles"

Cassie gasped and faked being hurt at Shelbys words "How dare you say I have wrinkles, I work very hard to maintain my naturally youthful skin"

Shelby laughed at the dancer and Cassie smiled at the carefree look on Shelbys face, she loved it when she could make the woman look like that.

"So Shel, did you ever consider having anymore kids?" Cassie asked the brunette and instantly wished she hadn't, she felt the woman instantly stiffen at the question and watched as her eyes teared up. Cassie knew it was a pretty blunt question but she didn't expect Shelby to react like that.

"I'm sorry Shelb, I didn't mean to upset you or anything" Cassie moved closer to the singer and wrapped an arm around her waist to comfort her. Cassandra loved the way Shelby felt against her skin and noticed how she instantly got goose bumps at the contact.

"It's not you Cass…" Shelby wiped her eyes and gave Cassie a watery smile.

"So whats wrong Shel" Cassie didn't understand why Shelby would react this way to a simple question.

"A few years after I had Rachel and left you there were some complications and then some surgery and now I cant have anymore kids"

Cassie was a little confused, what kind of complications would cause Shelby to not be able to have kids. "And what were these complications?"

"I had Ovarian cancer Cass, they had to remove both of my Ovaries and my womb" Shelby was still crying but she had calmed down and was looking at the pained look on her ex lovers face as she explained why she couldn't have children.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have been there for you" Cassie was looking Shelby in the eye and couldn't help but lose herself in the singers emerald eyes, she had always loved Shelbys eyes.

"What was I gonna do Cass? Ring you up and be like "Hey I know I just recently broke your heart but I have cancer now so can you please come console me"?" Shelby looked away from her ex and leaned her head against the blondes shoulder.

"I would have been there, broken heart and all" Cassie placed a kiss to the singers head and Shelby looked up at her, their eyes connected and Cassie leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to the brunettes soft lips.

Shelby smiled in to the kiss, when they parted they just looked at each other before Shelby took it upon herself to straddle Cassie and reattach her lips to the blondes. This kiss was more passionate and more likely to lead a bit further if they weren't careful.

Cassie pulled Shelby closer to her and wrapped her arms around the brunettes waist to keep her in place, Shelby ran her hands through soft blonde hair, she hadn't felt like this in a very long time, Cassie was the only person that ever really turned her on like this.

Cassies hands began to wander around her ex girlfriends body and eventually ended up on the woman's backside before travelling back up the brunettes body and under her shirt. Shelby needed to come up for air and broke the kiss off, she moved her lips to the blondes neck and began to kiss and suck on her pulse point, leaving a very nice mark for everyone to see.

"I've missed you Cassie" Shelby said between kisses.

"I've missed you too Shel" Cassies hands were still travelling around the woman body and just as she was about to undo the brunettes bra strap Shelby pulled away from the blonde with a panicked look on her face.

"Rachel, she's upstairs, we cant do this right now Cass" Shelby was a little annoyed that she couldn't do it right now but she didn't want to traumatise her daughter and catching her mom having sex in the lounge was a sure fire way of doing that.

"You're right, I should get going anyway" Cassie was a little sexually frustrated now and needed some kind of relief.

Shelby nodded and climbed off of her ex, but not before planting a quick kiss to her lips and winking.

Cassie smiled and stood up, she gathered her stuff together and made her way towards the front door with Shelby right behind her.

"Tell the girls I said bye for me okay" Cassie wrapped a hand around Shelbys waist and passionately kissed her before moving to her neck.

"If you carry on doing that you'll be telling them yourself, in the morning"

Cassie laughed and moved away from the woman she considered to be her true love, "Let me know when you're child free Shel" Cassie said as she winked and placed a quick kiss to the woman's lips before turning around and walking to her car.

Shelby watched the blonde drive away before turning around and walking back in to the house, she felt like she was on cloud 9 and nothing could bring her down.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N- Sorry for the delayed update but I've been busy with work and family, I hope you like this chapter :) Thanks, Nx**

 **P.S… I dont know how accurate the legal talk in this chapter is, I'm not a lawyer or anything so I did the best I could, I apologise in advance if there is any mistakes.**

Shelby went to bed that night, after saying goodnight to Rachel, feeling like she could finally be truly happy again, she had her daughter and her ex girlfriend back in her life. Then something dawned on her, the Berry's were coming home and she needed to see her lawyer tomorrow, she was determined that she would not let anyone take her baby away from her again. She fell asleep shortly after texting Cassie to say she enjoyed seeing her today and they should meet up again soon.

At 6am Shelby woke up feeling determined and protective. She made her way downstairs and seen her daughter in the kitchen making coffee and dancing and she smiled. The older brunette snuck behind her daughter and shouted BOO in her ear, Rachel jumped and went to attack her Mom with her cup until she seen who it was.

"What the hell Mom?!" Rachel said holding her hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry baby but I just couldn't resist, you looked too cute" Shelby laughed.

Rachel rolled her eyes at her mother and continued making coffee, she made a cup for Shelby too and placed it in front of her place at the table as Shelby grabbed 2 bowls, some cereal and the milk and placed them on the table for herself and Rachel. They both sat in silence for a few minutes as they ate and drank their coffee.

It was Shelby who broke the silence when she told Rachel about her plans for the day.

"So Rach, i'm gonna ring my lawyer in a bit and make an appointment for later today, do you wanna come with me or would you rather stay here?" Shelby wanted the girl to feel like she had some choice in the situation rather than have everything just thrown at her.

"I think i'd prefer it if I came with you to be honest, that way you don't have to remember everything when you tell me and I know for a fact you aren't hiding anything" Rachel said staring down at her cup of coffee.

Shelby frowned slightly at her daughters comment, she was going to let it go but she just couldn't.

"Thats fine Rachel but I would never hide anything from you anyway, I would make sure I was 100% honest with you about this whole thing"

Rachel looked up at her mom and gave her a small smile but didn't say anything, she just continued to drink her coffee. Shelby had a feeling that Rachel had been lied to a lot by her dads and thats why she didn't trust her with this, Shelby may have hurt Rachel all those months ago but she never lied to her.

Shelby decided to let it go for now, she had other pressing matters to deal with this morning, like seeing her lawyer and trying to get custody of her daughter. The older brunette left the kitchen and decided to call her lawyer, it was 7am and she knew that the office would be open by now.

She picked up her phone and dialled the number, it rang only 3 times before the receptionist picked up.

"Hello, Kendall Law, how may I help?" the woman was very polite and cheerful for a saturday morning.

"Hello, I was wondering if I could talk to Zachary Kendall?" Shelby enquired.

"May I take your name please?"

"It's Shelby Corcoran"

"One moment please" the receptionist said before Shelby heard the annoying music that played when she was on hold.

About 5 minutes went by before her lawyer finally decided to take Shelby off hold.

"Good morning Shelby, how are you?" he asked in a less cheerful manner than the woman before.

"Good thank you Zach, and yourself?" Shelby wasn't really interested in how Zach was she just knew she had to go through pleasantries before getting down to business.

"I'm good thank you, so what can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if I could possibly come and see you some time today with Rachel?" Shelby's tone was serious.

"Okay well I'm free at around 10am if thats good for you?" Zach said in a cheerful tone.

"Thats fine Zach, thank you"

"I shall see you then Shelby, good bye"

"Good bye Zach" Shelby put her phone down, she looked at the time and seen it was 7:20am, she thought she would have been on the phone longer than that.

After getting ready for the day Shelby decided to go and find Rachel, she needed to make sure she too was getting ready for the day if she wanted to come to the lawyers with her. She walked to the girls bedroom and knocked on the door, when she received no reply she opened the door and seen that the girl was not inside. She walked down the stairs and seen the brunette sitting on the sofa, showered and dressed.

"Hey Rach, I spoke to my lawyer, he said we can go see him today at 10, is that okay with you?"

Rachel just nodded her head and carried on watching some crappy TV show.

"Okay good" Shelby frowned at her daughter, she didn't understand why she was suddenly so quiet and withdrawn from her, they had built up a pretty good relationship in these last few days and she was hoping she hadn't said or done anything to ruin it.

Shelby took herself off to the kitchen to make a fresh cup of coffee.

About 10 minutes later Rachel decided to go in the kitchen for a glass of juice, her mom was sat at the table reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee. Rachel smiled to herself, she had never seen her mom wear glasses before and couldn't help but noticed how beautiful she was, she wished she could be as beautiful as her.

Shelby looked up from the article she was reading and gave her daughter a strange look "Why are you staring at me?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Rachel hadn't even noticed she was staring until she heard her moms voice, she quickly looked away and blushed.

"I wasn't staring" Rachel mumbled.

"Sweetheart I know I'm a little older than you but I'm not senile yet" Shelby laughed.

Rachel blushed even harder and decided to just tell her mom the truth "I have just never seen you in glasses before and I was just thinking about how beautiful you are and then I began to wish that I could be as beautiful as you" Rachel spoke with her head down and embarrassment written all over her face.

"Thank you Baby, but you don't need to wish you were as beautiful as me because honey, you are the most gorgeous person I have ever seen" Shelby put her paper down and walked over to her daughter as she spoke, she bent down so she was at Rachels height and lifted the girls head, she looked her in the eye and placed a gentle kiss to the girls forehead before wrapping her up in a tight hug.

Rachel melted in to her moms embrace and placed her head on to her shoulder, she could smell her moms perfume and shampoo and it seemed to calm her a little bit, she loved the smell of her mom. The small brunette smiled slightly and before pulling away from her mom completely she placed a kiss to the woman's cheek and finally got that cup of juice she wanted before returning to the living room.

Shelby felt a tear run down her face as she watched her daughter walk away, she quickly brushed it away and went back to her coffee and newspaper.

Shelby and Rachel made it to the lawyers office at exactly 10am. Shelby felt a little apprehensive about what Zachary was going to say about the whole situation, she was hopeful that because of the circumstances the law would be in her favour but she wasn't stupid she knew that the contract she signed when she was pregnant was going to get in the way of her getting custody of Rachel.

They walked in to the firm and Shelby told Rachel to go and sit in the waiting area. The older brunette walked up to the receptionist she had spoken to earlier that morning and smiled.

"Hello, I'm Shelby Corcoran, I'm here to see Zachary Kendall" Shelby was trying her hardest not to show her anxiety about this meeting.

"Yes, Miss Corcoran he is expecting you, take a seat and I will let him know you have arrived" the receptionist replied with as much enthusiasm as she had earlier.

Shelby smiled and made her way over to her daughter.

The younger brunette could tell her mom was feeling a little anxious, she wouldn't stay still and hadn't said anything on the drive over here.

"Mom, you need to chill, I'm sure everything is going to be fine" Rachel tried to reassure her mother.

Shelby just smiled at her daughter and continued to bounce her leg up and down, Rachel decided that the bouncing was getting on her nerves a little and placed a hand on her mothers knee to get her to stop it.

"Sorry Rach, I'm just nervous and really hoping that the law is on my side here" Shelby said looking at her daughter with a tiny smile on her face.

Before Rachel could reply a tall, thin and slightly older man walked down the hall, he looked professional in his suit and tie.

"Good Morning Shelby, please follow me to my office" the man said to Shelby, both mother and daughter got up from their chairs and followed him in to the office, Zach motioned for the pair to sit on a chair in front of his desk as he himself sat down behind it and placed both his hands on the desk in front of him.

"So, Shelby, How may I help you today?" Zachary asked his client.

"Well Zach, as you can see I'm not here alone.." Shelby motioned towards Rachel and smiled before carrying on with what she had to say.

"..this is my daughter, Rachel, and I'm here because of what we had previously spoke about a few days ago"

"I must say its nice to finally meet you Miss Berry" Zach said as he smiled at the girl that was the spitting image of her mother.

Rachel smiled back at the man and replied in a small voice "It's nice to meet you too Mr Kendall"

"Please Rachel, call me Zach" he could tell that Rachel was a little nervous.

Zachary Kendall wasn't someone that would beat around the bush and decided to just go ahead and ask all the questions he knew he needed answered.

"Rachel, where do you want to live?" he said gently to the singer.

"I want to live with someone thats going to be there for me all the time and thats my mom" Shelby reached over and grasped Rachels hand in her own. Zach looked at the interaction between mother and daughter and smiled at how sweet they were.

"My next question is going to be very invasive Rachel, I wish I didn't have to ask it but in order to get you what you want I need you to be honest with me okay?" Zach leaned forward in his chair as he spoke and watched as Rachel nodded her head in understanding.

"Have your fathers ever hit you or touched you inappropriately?" Shelby watched her daughters reaction carefully and saw slight panic in the girls eyes and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"Yes" was all Rachel could managed to say in that moment, she looked to her mother and silently asked for help but Shelby just smiled sadly at the girl and let her lawyer and friend continue.

"Can you elaborate for me Rachel? I know this may be hard but in order for me to guarantee your mom custody of you I need as much information as possible"

"When they've had a bad day at work or something hasn't gone the way they wanted it to they'd hit me, at first it wasn't hard just a slap across the face or holding on to my arm too tightly. As I got older though they started hitting me harder, eventually they started locking me in my room after a beating"

Rachel didn't even notice the tears running down her face until she felt her mom wipe them away with her thumb, she looked over at the older woman and stared in to her eyes. Shelby was clearly holding back tears herself and tried to remain composed she very rarely broke down in public and she needed to be strong for her daughter.

"Okay, Rachel, Have they ever sexually abused you?" Zach hated asking these questions but knew they needed to be asked.

Rachel kept eye contact with her mom as she answered this question "No, Daddy Hiram tried once but was stopped by Dad Leroy, to be honest I think he only stopped him because he was jealous"

That was it for Shelby, she finally let the tears run down her face and leaned over her seat and pulled Rachel in to an awkward tight hug, she whispered in to her daughters ear as they hugged and ran a hand through her long brown hair.

"I love you, baby"

"I love you too mom" Rachel said as she pulled away from her mom and looked back at the lawyer.

"Okay Rachel, with this information I don't think we'll have too much trouble getting you put in the custody of your mother, the only issue we may run in to Shelby is that contract you signed. Do you have a copy of it?"

"Yes, its in my safe at home" Shelby said wiping the tears off her face.

"I'll need that, I'll read through it and see if theres any loopholes if there isn't we'll have to come up with plan B, but to be honest I think that Rachels fathers will want this to stay out of court so they don't get charged with child neglect, child endangerment and assault, because of this I wouldn't be surprised if they just handed over full custody, where are they right now? Your mom asked me to locate them for her but I couldn't get an exact location" He turned to Rachel as he asked this question.

"They sent me a message telling me that they will be home soon, they said maybe a week, they never tell me where they're going so I don't know where they're coming from" Rachel mumbled and hung her head.

"So we have a week or so to draw up custody papers, read through the contract and prepare for a fight" Zach was optimistic, if there was anything he'd learned in his many years of practising law it was that you must always be prepared for a fight. He also wanted to make sure he did everything he could for his friend.

Shelby and Rachel nodded at the lawyer and thanked him for his help, Shelby shook his hand and made arrangements to bring the contract in on Monday morning before grabbing Rachels hand and walking out of the office, she smiled at the receptionist and headed towards her Range Rover.

"Listen to me Rachel, I dont care how much of a fight your fathers put up, I am not letting you leave with them, they can threaten me with the law or bodily harm or whatever but you will not be living with them ever again, do you hear me?" Shelby looked over at her child who was sitting in the passenger seat and lifted the girls head with her hand so she could look her in the eye.

"I said do you hear me?" Shelby repeated when Rachel didn't answer her.

"Yes, Mama I hear you" Rachel said as she looked in to her mothers eyes.

"Good, now lets go get something to eat for lunch and figure out what we're doing for the rest of the day" Shelby wanted to change the subject to something a little less serious and try and cheer her daughter up a little.

"Aren't you seeing Cassandra today? things looked a little hot and heavy last night, I'm surprised you haven't called her yet today" Rachel said with a slight smirk on her face.

"No I'm not seeing Cassie today and what do you mean things looked hot and heavy?" Shelby asked with confused written all over her face.

"I mean you were practically eating each others faces last night and when I walked down the stairs to get a glass of juice for me and San I think I became slightly traumatised by the fact that my mom was practically riding her ex girlfriend like a horse on the sofa" Rachel laughed at her moms expression.

Shelby had embarrassment written all over her face as well as shock, how had she not noticed that Rachel was on the stairs last night.

"Wait a minute, how did I not realise you were there?"

"You was a little busy and I noticed what was going on and practically sprinted back up the stairs, I really think I need therapy though, I mean seeing my mom getting all hot and bothered with some chick is going to scar me for life" Rachel said in a mock serious tone.

Shelby glared at her daughter and decided to just drive them home, Rachel however was still smirking at her moms embarrassment and shock and was silently laughing to herself as Shelby drove in the direction of their house.

The older brunette would have to be a lot more careful the next time Cassie came round and Rachel was home, maybe she could put a bell on the girls bedroom door so she knew it was being opened, Shelby thought to herself and smiled slightly at the idea.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N-Sorry for the long wait I've been a little busy with work and reconnecting with long lost family, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and if you have any suggestions for the next chapter please let me know I appreciate your input…Thanks N.x

Chapter 12…

It had been a couple of days since their visit to the lawyers, Shelby had fished out her copy of the contract and taken it to Zachary's office for him to look over. Overall everything was going well with Shelby and Rachel, they were both happy in their relationships and seemed to be connecting with each other rather well.

Shelby was getting ready for her date with Cassie whilst Rachel and Santana watched her as they sat on her bed.

"Why are you pair watching me get ready? don't you have better things to do?" Shelby asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Not really, plus we need to make sure that you dress appropriately" Rachel answered in a mocking tone.

"What she means is that I need to make sure you dress appropriately, Rachel couldn't dress a nun, no offence babe" Santana said with a smile on her face.

"I appreciate you wanting to dress me but its not necessary, I am more than capable of dressing myself so please go do something else and stop staring at me, you're making me nervous" Shelby said turning away from the mirror and glaring at the two girls sat on her bed.

"Fine, come on San, lets go to my room" the singer said in a seductive tone because she knew it would make her mom uncomfortable. Santana smirked at her girlfriend and grabbed the hand that was offered to her and followed the brunette out the door.

"LEAVE YOUR DOOR OPEN!" Shelby shouted after them. When she didn't hear the door close she let out a breath and continued with her make-up.

As Shelby continued to get ready for her date Rachel and Santana sat in the singers room on her bed and Santana decided to bring up Rachels dads.

"So, have you heard from your dads?" Santana wasn't someone that beat around the bush, she always thought it was better to just get straight to the point.

Rachel seemed a little reluctant to answer this question and the Latina could tell she was hiding something from her.

"Whats going on Rach?" Santana asked her girlfriend.

"They text me yesterday" Rachel mumbled and Santana couldn't hear what she was saying so she leaned in a little closer.

"What?" the Latina asked slightly confused.

"I said they text me yesterday" the singer replied in a louder, slightly agitated tone.

"What did they say?" Santana was trying to hold her anger in, why hadn't Rachel told her this yesterday?.

Rachel pulled out her phone and pulled up the message from her dads and began to read it in a hushed tone, she didn't want Shelby to hear.

"Rachel, the house better be in the state that we left it in, if not cleaner, because we are returning home in 2 weeks. Make sure everything is as it should be and I don't want any surprises when we get home, there will be consequences if anything is wrong, see you soon, Dad."

"Babe, have you told Shelby? you need to get the rest of your stuff before they get home and you need to let your lawyer know" Santana told her girlfriend as she rubbed her back.

"No I haven't told Shelby, I knew she was going on this date tonight and I didn't want to ruin it for her, plus i've been thinking and it might just be easier for me to just go back to my dads, I'm 16 so I will only be there for another 2 years and then i'll go off to college, I don't want to keep stressing Shelby out and this lawyer isn't going to be cheap…" Before Rachel could continue Santana interrupted her by placing her lips to Rachels.

When Santana pulled away from the kiss she wiped away a stray tear that had escaped from Rachels eye and ran a hand through the singers dark hair.

"Listen to me Rachel okay…you are not going back to your dads house, you would have to kill me and Shelby before we let you leave, it doesn't matter if you're only going to be there for another 2 years because a lot can happen in those 2 years and I will not let anything else happen to you and neither will your mom. Let Shelby have tonight with Cassandra but if you don't tell her tomorrow I will and thats a promise, you are not stressing Shelby out and I'm pretty sure she doesn't care about the cost of the lawyer, you're her daughter, she loves you, now stop being stupid" Santana kissed Rachel on the lips again when she finished her speech.

The Latina pulled away from the kiss and wiped away another stray tear, Rachel was about to reply when Shelby knocked on the open door to her bedroom.

"Girls, I'm heading out to meet Cassie, theres money in the kitchen if you want to order a take away, I am trusting the pair of you alone for the evening but I swear to god if you betray this trust both of you will regret it, am I understood?" Shelby was looking at both the girls with a very serious face and spoke in a very stern tone.

"Yes Coach C we understand, No sex" Santana said with a slight smirk on her face.

"Santana, lose that smirk, and exactly no sex, no fooling around, no touching, you may kiss and that is all" Shelby pointed at the pair of them and glared at Santana when she laughed.

"So we cant have fun then Coach C"

Rachel looked between her mother and girlfriend and knew that if Santana carried on she was going to be sent home, she could tell by the look on her moms face that she was very serious about the no sex.

"Dont worry mom, I'm not even ready for sex and me and Santana haven't even discussed it, its too early for that, we're just gonna order food and watch a movie" Rachel smiled at her mom.

"Good, glad to hear it, now I really gotta go so be good, if you need me ring me and i'll be home around midnight" Shelby bent down and placed a kiss on Rachel's head before lightly slapping the back of Santanas and laughed as she walked out.

Santana rubbed the back of her head and glared at her laughing girlfriend.

"As rude as that was you're still telling her tomorrow and I promise if you don't I will" Santana softly said when they were alone.

"I'll tell her, I promise, now lets go order something I'm starving" Rachel stood up and pulled her girlfriend with her and they made their way downstairs to order a take away and pick out a movie.

Shelby got to the restaurant at exactly 7pm, She'd been seeing a lot of Cassie over the last few days but still got a knot in her stomach whenever she was due to meet her.

As Shelby walked in to the restaurant she spotted a flash of blonde hair at the bar and made her way over to the beautiful woman that was waiting for her.

"Hey" the brunette whispered in Cassandra's ear as she approached her, the blonde was a little startled but soon calmed down when she noticed who was so close to her.

"You know you shouldn't sneak up on people like that, I could have attacked you or something" the dancer said in a mocking tone as she raised her eyebrow and the smirking brunette in front of her.

"Well I apologise, I wouldn't want you to do that" Shelby said in a flirtatious tone and took a seat next to Cassie, she got the attention of the barman and ordered herself a Vodka Martini then turned back to Cassie "You want anything Cass?".

"Sure i'll take a Sex on the Beach" the blonde told the barman with a smirk on her face.

Shelby rolled her eyes at the clear innuendo being made by her ex and smiled at the barman who was clearly enjoying the sexual tension between the two girls in front of him, Shelby handed over $20 for the drinks and the bartender went to make them leaving the girls on their own.

"So Shel, you look good tonight" Cassie said looking the singer up and down, the dancing was almost certain that Shelby was trying to kill her in that purple dress that clearly hugged her in all the right places.

"Thanks Cass, you don't look too bad yourself" Shelby replied as she too looked her ex up and down and noted that she was wearing a short black dress and red heels.

"Why thank you… So how's life at home with the daughter?" Cassie asked just as the barman gave them their drinks and Shelby her change.

"It's going alright to be honest, still waiting to hear back from my lawyer about my legal rights though" Shelby said taking a sip of her Martini.

"Surely you have some rights to her, she did come out of you" Cassie replied with a smile on her face.

"Well I signed them away when I signed that contract so I'm not so sure, hopefully because of the situation though i'll be able to get them back, Zach seemed pretty optimistic when I went to see him with Rachel" the singer said in a serious tone.

"I wouldn't worry Shel, theres no way they wouldn't let Rachel go back to her dads after everything, I'm pretty sure the law is well and truly on your side" Cassandra said as she placed a comforting hand on Shelbys knee.

Shelby smiled at her ex and placed a hand on top of Cassies. She could feel the dancer leaning closer to her and began to panic slightly.

"We should go get a table if we plan on eating any time soon" the brunette said as she stood up and grabbed her drink. Cassie frowned at the weird way Shelby was acting and planned on asking her about it when they sat down.

Cassie followed Shelby to an empty table and sat across from her, Shelby seemed to be a little distant down and the dancer couldn't help but be a little pissed off by the way she was acting.

"Whats wrong Shelb?" Cass asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Nothing, why?" Shelby tried to sound upbeat but failed miserably.

"Have you forgotten that I've known you for several years, I mean we may not have seen each other for a while but I'm pretty sure you haven't changed that much, I know when something is bothering you, so what is it?" Cassie replied. Just as Shelby was about to answer a waitress came over to take their order and Shelby was glad for the opportunity to gather her thoughts before answering the blonde.

"So…" Cassie prompted once the waitress had left with their orders.

"I just don't wanna go too fast Cass, I'm in the middle of all this shit with Rachel and I'm already really overwhelmed, the last thing I wanna do is break your heart again Cass and with everything going on and the impending arrival of Rachels dads at any moment I know you're gonna get hurt and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that to you again" Shelby said as a lone tear fell down her cheek.

Cassie reached over the table and wiped away the tear from her true loves face and gave her a sad smile.

"Shelby, I really appreciate that you don't wanna hurt me again but I think you could use a little support right down and I think I could be the one to give it to you, you wont break my heart again because you have no reason to run away this time. I love you, Shelby and I cant let you get away from me again" Cassie said with so much emotion in her voice that it actually surprised Shelby because the blonde wasn't exactly known for being honest with her feelings.

"I love you too, Cass" Shelby said and leaned over the table to peck the blonde on the lips. Once Shelby pulled away and sat back down the waitress brought over their food.

The rest of Cassie and Shelby's date went off without a hitch, they spoke about their careers, old memories and of course Rachel. Shelby arrived home at midnight to a pair of teenagers on her sofa wrapped in a blanket and cuddling each other, she couldn't help but smile at how cute they were and decided to leave them where they were for the night.

Shelby turned off the tv that was still on and kissed her daughter on the forehead before heading up to bed.

Once Shelby was in bed she got her phone out and discovered she had a message from Cassandra.

"Thank you for tonight Shelb, I had a great time, it felt just like old times, I love you, "

"You don't need to thank me Cass, I had a great time too, I'll see you soon, Love you Sxx"

Shelby placed her phone on charge on the bedside table and quickly fell asleep with a smile plastered on her face.

The next morning Rachel woke up at 8am still wrapped in Santanas arms and smiled at the Latina as she ran a hand through her hair. Santana woke to the feeling of having her hair played with and smiled to herself before fully waking up.

"Good Morning babe" Rachel said in a tired voice.

"Hey Babe, what time is it?" Santana asked in a very raspy voice.

"Just gone 8 I think" the short brunette answer as she stopped playing with her girlfriends hair and went to stand up.

Santana pulled Rachel back on the sofa and pecked her on the lips.

"Its a Sunday, why are we awake at such an ungodly hour?" the Latina asked as laid her head on her girlfriends lap and looked up at her.

Rachel laughed at Santanas dramatics and made to get up again, this time being successful and making it to the kitchen to get a cup of tea for her and the tall brunette.

"Do you think you're mom came home last night with her girlfriend or do you think they went back to Cassandra's for a little fun?" Santana asked as she walked in to the kitchen completely unaware that shelby was sat at the kitchen table completely dressed with a cup of coffee.

"Good morning Miss Lopez" Shelby said as she looked at the startled young girl with a raised eyebrow and a sly smile on her lips.

"Morning Shelby" Santana replied with a sheepish look on her face and her eyes pointed towards to the kitchen floor.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh silently to herself at her girlfriends embarrassment and she watched the interaction between her and her mother.

"Did you sleep well Miss Lopez?" Shelby asked as she took a sip of her coffee. Santana didn't like the fact that Shelby kept calling her Miss Lopez, it was too formal for her.

"Yes" was Santanas short reply.

Shelby stood from her seat at the table and made her way towards the clearly uncomfortable girl, she put her finger under the girls chin and made her look in to the older womans eyes.

"Good, I'm glad, now don't ever let me hear you talk about my sex life again, okay?" Shelby said with a very serious tone.

"Yes, Ma'am" Santana replied still looking in the singers eyes.

Shelby smirked, she was taking great pleasure in scaring the teenager. Rachel continued to watch the interaction between the two and felt a little sorry for Santana, she knew her mom was just playing around but Santana didn't.

Shelby let go of the girls chin and pushed her towards the table, Santana took a seat next to Rachel and whispered in the short brunettes ear "You couldn't have warned me she was in here?".

"How was I meant to know you was gonna start a discussion about my moms sex life?" Rachel whispered back with slight amusement in her voice.

Santana rolled her eyes and drank her tea, she watched Shelby as she made breakfast for everyone, she noticed how much happier she seemed after her date and nudged Rachel to get her attention.

"What?" Rachel asked as she looked in the direction her girlfriend was looking.

"Ask her how her date went?" Santana replied, normally she'd just ask but after what just happened she figured it would be best if Rachel asked.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the tall brunette but smiled at how happy her mom looked this morning.

"So Mom, how did your date go last night?" Rachel asked as Shelby was serving breakfast.

"Great thanks Rach, did you have a good night last night?" Shelby asked as she sat down at the table with the girls.

"Yeah it was fun, we just watched some movies and ate" Rachel said in an upbeat voice.

Shelby nodded her head and began eating her breakfast with the teenagers.

After breakfast was over and the two teenagers had gotten themselves dressed for the day Santana went home but not before reminding Rachel that she needed to speak to Shelby about the messages from her dads today.

Rachel was in her bedroom thinking about how she was going to approach the subject when she decided that she needed to just come out with it.

She made her way downstairs and found Shelby in the living room texting on her phone with a smile on her face, she didn't want to worry her right now because she was clearly very happy but she knew that if she didn't tell her now she wouldn't tell her at all and Santana would be very pissed off.

Rachel stood in the door way of the living room and watched her mom.

"Are you going to stand there watching me all day or are you going to come in here and join me?" Shelby asked her daughter without even looking up from her phone.

"How did you even know I was here?" Rachel asked slightly confused by her moms sixth sense.

"Just call it moms intuition" Shelby laughed.

Rachel walked in to the living room and sat down next to her mom, Shelby put her phone down and looked at her daughter, she could see the wheels turning in her head and grew slightly concerned.

"Whats up Rach?" the older brunette asked with concern in her voice.

"I have to tell you something" Rachel said looking down the carpet.

"Okay and that would be…" Shelby said trying to encourage her daughter to tell her whatever was on her mind.

"Please understand that I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure what to say and I didn't want to worry you, now I've come to understand that I need to tell you and I'm sorry for being such an idiot and keeping it from you" Rachel ranted still looking at the floor. Shelby was beginning to worry about what her daughter had to say and grabbed the short brunettes chin so she was looking her in the eye.

"Rachel, you're not an idiot, just tell me whats wrong"

Rachel hesitated for a bit looking directly in to her mothers eyes and seeing the love that Shelby had for her in them.

"My dads messaged me…"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N-i hope you all like this chapter, took me a while to think of something else to write tbh because I've been concentrating on my other story, One Mistake, but I tried really hard and I hope you all like it, please review and let me know what you think :) Also I'm not a lawyer or a law student so I don't know if any of this law talk is correct, I've basically just thought back to Law and Order and taken what I can from that lol! Btw there is a little smut at the end of this chapter, hope none of you mind. Thanks Nx**

Shelby sat and listened to her daughter tell her about the message her dads had sent, she understood why Rachel didn't tell her about the message beforehand and she was sympathetic to her daughters feelings but she was having to try really hard to keep her emotions at bay.

"…So they said they're coming back in 2 weeks and I need to make sure I don't have any surprised for them, clearly me living with you is going to be a surprise and I don't want to get you or myself in any trouble because of all this and I just think it may be easier for me and you if I just went back to theirs and pretend this never happened.."

At this point Shelby couldn't listen to anymore of Rachel's rambling and a placed a hand over her mouth and looked her in the eye.

"If I remove my hand will you be quiet and let me speak?" Shelby asked her daughter in a playful voice, Rachel nodded her head and Shelby removed her hand and placed it on her daughters knee.

"Listen to me Rachel, you don't need to be scared about your dads coming back and finding out that you live with me and you most certainly don't need to worry about me because I'm going to take care of everything, You will not go back to living at their house and we won't pretend none of this ever happened because I love you too much to ever let you go and act like I don't know you anymore, I will ring Zach in a minute and let him know whats happened and we'll get something draw up for when they come back, you aren't going anywhere, do you hear me?" Shelby said in a stern and serious voice that was laced with emotion, she needed to make sure her baby girl understood that she wasn't letting her go.

"Yes, Mama, I hear you, but what if Zach can't get you custody, i'll have no choice but to go back to my dads" Rachel sighed and looked down at her and her moms joined hands.

"I'll fight for you if I have too Rachel, you won't leave this house with them, I promise you that" Shelby pulled Rachel in to her side and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Mama" Rachel whispered through her tears that had started rolling down her face.

"I love you too, Baby, i'm gonna go and ring Zach okay"

Rachel nodded her head and moved away from her mom, she watched Shelby walk in to the kitchen and make a phone call, Rachel pulled out her own phone and messaged Santana.

"I told Mom, she said she's gonna do what she cant to keep me in this house and that she'll fight for me if she needs too, Rx"

"I knew she wouldn't let you go easily Rach, everything's going to be okay, Shelby will easily get full custody and you'll live happily ever after lol San xx"

Rachel smiled at her phone and placed it back in her pocket.

Shelby sat at the kitchen table and made a phone call to her lawyer, she was trying to calm her nerves and steady her emotions before someone answered the phone, she didn't want her emotions to drive the conversation.

"Good morning, Kendall Law, how may I help you?" the receptionist answered the phone in a cheerful voice.

"Morning, its Shelby Corcoran I was wondering if I could speak to Zachary Kendall?" Shelby asked and she tried to control her voice as she spoke to sound more confident and less emotional.

"One moment Miss Corcoran and I'll patch you through"

Shelby sat at the table listening to the ridiculous music that plays when she's on hold and rolled her eyes, she really needed to talk to Zach about changing this music it was so annoying.

"Morning Shelb, whats up?" Zach answered the phone in a chipper voice that made Shelby smile a little.

"Morning Zach, I was wondering if you had a chance to read through the contract yet?" Shelby didn't want to get in to everything straight away, she wanted to gather her thoughts and feelings first.

"I have, I was actually going to ring you at some point this weekend, It says that you aren't allowed to contact Rachel until she's 18 unless Rachel contacts you first, so I was wondering if you could tell me about how you two came to meet"

Shelby sighed and explained the whole situation about her seeing Rachel at sectionals, getting Jesse to contact her for her and everything that happened after Rachel found Shelby singing in the auditorium up until Santana knocking on her front door.

"So I guess technically I found her first but it was an accident, I didn't know she was going to be at the competition, I go to every sectionals to scope out the other teams" Shelby said with panic in her voice.

"Okay, well obviously that may be a problem because you got a student to contact Rachel for you but you didn't approach her yourself until Rachel discovered who you were so thats helpful, because of everything Rachel told me during your last visit I have decided to write a letter to the Berry men asking them to terminate their legal rights or we will take the matter to court, I think they may want to keep this out of court personally, but obviously I can't guarantee that so you need to prepare yourself for the worst just in case, do you have any questions Shel?" Zach spoke in a very professional and serious voice that gave Shelby a bit of hope.

"Well, Rachel told me today that her Dads text her 2 days ago and said they were coming back in 2 weeks and that she needed to make sure there wasn't any surprised when they got home or else, obviously this is going to be a surprise and I'm concerned that they're going to come over to my house and force her to leave with them, is there anything you can do to keep them away from her?" Shelby wasn't hopeful when she asked that question because she knew that Leroy and Hiram still had legal rights to Rachel and she didn't have any right now.

"Honestly Shel, all I can do is issue a restraining order for both you and Rachel but I don't have enough evidence to make it a long standing restraining order, you're best bet is to wait and see how they react to the letter that I send, maybe they'll sign over all their rights as soon as they get the letter, its a difficult situation" Zach sighed, he knew Shelby wouldn't be happy with his answer.

"Right so I basically have to sit a wait for their reaction to everything" Shelby spoke in a pissed off tone of voice.

"I'm sorry Shel, I know thats not what you wanted to hear but if I get a restraining order it may piss them off more and as much as I hate to admit it we need them on our level and willing to hand over custody, it'd be better for you and Rachel in the long run" the lawyer said trying to get Shelby to see where he was coming from.

"Okay, I get it, I do, but I'm not happy about it Zach" Shelby felt her maternal instincts kicking in and began to think about all the scenarios that could happen when the men get back from where ever they are.

"I know you aren't Shelby and I can only apologise and tell you that i'll do everything I can to get this sorted out as soon as we know they're back and I promise they won't come near you or Rachel" Zach spoke with confidence and that made Shelby feel a little better and little more at ease.

"Thank you Zach I appreciate that, I'll let you know if they get in contact again or if they come home" Shelby reined in her emotions and looked over to her daughter who was watching tv in the lounge.

"Please do, i'll be in touch soon regarding the letter we need to send and anything else that crops up"

"Okay, I'll speak to you soon Zach, Bye"

"See you soon Shel" Zach put the phone down and Shelby placed hers on the kitchen table, she ran a hand over her face and tried her hardest not to cry, the last thing she needed right now was to show Rachel how scared she really was.

Shelby looked over at her baby girl and sighed, what was she meant to say "Sorry Rach but there's nothing we can do right now, we just gotta see if your dads give me custody" that didn't seem very comforting or practical but it was the truth.

Eventually Shelby gathered her bearings and walked in to the lounge and sat next to her daughter on the sofa.

"It didn't go well did it" Rachel said in a small voice.

"Not really to be honest, basically we just need to wait and see if your dads are willing to give me custody when they return, Zach is sending them a letter explaining everything and giving them a way out of court, Zach said he could give them a restraining order but he thought it might just push them over the edge and they'd refuse to sign over legal rights straight away, I'm sorry Rach" Shelby wiped away a stray tear as she spoke.

"But I'm not leaving here when they return right?" the singer asked looking her mom in the eye.

"You will stay here for as long as possible, hopefully your dads won't argue and will just sign all necessary paperwork. But like I said before Rach i'll fight for you and if it goes to court I'll petition for you to stay here but if that doesn't work I'll ask Zach if you can stay somewhere other than your dads house, is that okay?" Shelby wiped away the tears that ran down Rachel's face and looked her in the eye.

"I guess anywhere is better than theirs" the short brunette said with a slight smile.

"I'm sorry baby, I really am" Shelby said as she pulled Rachel in to her for a hug and let her tears flow freely, she couldn't help but blame herself for all of this.

"It's okay mama, you're doing everything you can" Rachel whispered in to her moms chest and Shelby kissed her on the head and wiped at her face to clear her tears.

It was a Sunday and Shelby was sat in the lounge watching The Kardashians with a glass of red wine whilst her daughter was in her room doing her homework, she wasn't really paying much attention to what Khloe and Kris were arguing about on the tv as she was just thinking over everything that had happened this weekend. Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate next to her and she glanced down to see who it was, she wasn't surprised to see that it was Cassie.

"Hey Shel, not heard from you all weekend, you okay? I miss you, Cass x"

Shelby smiled at the message, through all the craziness that had happened and all the emotions that had ran high this weekend she had completely forgot to text Cassandra back, she was just happy that Cassie wasn't pissed off about it.

"Hey Cass, Sorry its been a bit hectic this weekend, wanna come round and have a glass of wine with me, Shel x"

"I'll be right there baby ;) Cass x"

Shelby laughed at the instant reply she got from Cassie and went upstairs to check on Rachel and make sure she was actually doing her homework. When she walked in to her daughters room there were school books and highlighters everywhere but Rachel was fast asleep on top of her bed.

The older brunette smiled at how cute her baby looked and started tidying up all the books and pens from around the singer, she placed them on her desk and grabbed a blanket from her room and covered Rachel up before kissing her on the forehead and whispering "I love you" in her ear.

She closed the curtains and turned off the light before walking out the room and closing the door behind her. As she started walking down the stairs her doorbell rang and she smiled to herself knowing exactly who it was.

Opening the door she smiled at her guest "Hey Cass" she said before moving out the way and letting her in.

"Well hello to you too, nice outfit Shelb" Cassie smirked and Shelby looked down at herself before she realised she was wearing her matching nightie and dressing gown and her dressing gown was undone, she blushed and covered herself up quickly.

"Don't cover up on my account Shel" Cassie winked at Shelby and went in to the kitchen to get herself a glass for her wine and then made her way in to the lounge to make herself comfy.

"Sure Cass just make yourself at home" Shelby smirked as she watched the blonde lay on the sofa with her wine and joined her with her own extra large wine glass.

"So whats been going on that you need to ignore my messages?" Cassandra asked playfully.

Shelby explained the whole situation to Cassie and had to try to keep her emotions at bay but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"..I just can't help but feel like all of this is my fault because I chose to be their surrogate and I chose to sign that fucking contract, I should have been smarter and I should have kept her or ran away whilst I was still pregnant" Shelby was so frustrated with herself, she couldn't help but blame everything on herself.

"Oi, don't blame what those awful men did on yourself, you weren't to know what kind of parents they would turn out to be, you gave them the greatest gift you could give anyone and they abused that, none of this is your fault Shelby and you will get custody, if those men have any sense they'll want to keep this out of court" Cassie said as she grabbed the brunettes chin and made the woman look in to her eyes so she could see how serious she was.

"Thanks Cass but if I hadn't of been their surrogate…"

"Then Rachel wouldn't be here and you wouldn't have a beautiful teenage daughter" Cassie cut off what Shelby was going to say and pulled the singer close to her so she could hug her and play with her soft brown hair.

"Well I guess that's true" Shelby smiled up at the beautiful blonde and leaned up slightly to capture her lips with her own.

Cassandra smiled in to the kiss and pulled Shelby on top of her so the woman was straddling her hips, Shelby deepened the kiss and ran her hands through Cassies blonde hair.

Cassie ran her hands over Shelbys back and eventually grabbed her ass and pulled her as close as possible, she was starting to wish she hadn't worn jeans now especially since Shelby was wearing barely anything.

Shelby broke the kiss as she needed to come up for air, she looked Cassie in the eye as she pulled off her silk dressing gown and placed in on the floor with their wine glasses. Once the dressing gown was gone Shelby leaned forward and started kissing her lovers neck until she heard the blonde moan, she smirked to herself, she forgot how much she could rile Cassie up and how much she enjoyed it.

Cassandras hands were still placed on the brunettes ass but as Shelby was kissing her neck Cassie started to move them under the woman's silk nightie until she reached her bare back and noticed the singer wasn't wearing a bra, this just turned Cassie on more and she pulled away from the brunette.

Shelby looked at Cass a little confused until she felt herself being lifted and then dropped on her back on the sofa, she watched as Cassie took off her white t-shirt in one swift move and smirked at the look she was getting from the dancer.

"Where's Rachel?" Cassie asked out of nowhere.

"Asleep in bed" Shelby answered with a slight pant.

Cassie smirked at her lover and whispered in her ear "So you gotta be quiet then shelb".

Shelby nodded her head eagerly, she was so ready for this right now, she wasn't even bothered that they were in the lounge and Rachel could wake up at any moment and catch them, she just wanted Cassie right here and right now.

Cassie placed her lips back on Shelbys and it instantly became hot and heavy, Shelby ran a hand up Cassie's back and undid her bra letting it fall on top of her, Cassie picked it up and threw it somewhere in the room. The dancer grabbed Shelbys panties and pulled them down and off.

Shelby gasped when she felt Cassies hand on her heat and felt her nightie get pulled down slightly so her breasts were exposed. It had been a while since Shelby had been with anyone like this and she knew she wasn't going to last very long if Cassie continued to rub her heat like that.

Suddenly Shelby felt lips on her chest and she began to moan loudly so Cassie placed her free hand over the singers mouth to keep her from waking the teenager upstairs. After a few minutes of Cassie playing with Shelby she finally gave her what she so desperately wanted and pushed her over the edge, Shelby pulled Cassie down towards her and began to kiss the blonde passionately as a thank you.

Cassie pulled away from Shelby and looked in to the woman's eyes, it had been so long since she had seen Shelby like this and she wanted to remember it for the rest of her life just in case it never happened again.

Shelby was about to return the favour when she felt Cassie push her hands away from her jeans button, she looked at the blonde dancer in confusion and a little hurt.

"Not tonight Shel, this was about you, now go to sleep"

Shelby gave Cassandra a small smile and curled up on the sofa next to her, Cassie pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and placed it over the two of them. Cassie played with Shelbys hair until the woman's breathing evened out, then she grabbed her phone from her back pocket and set an alarm so they'd both be up and dressed before Rachel woke up for school.

The last thing she needed was to be caught half naked by her lovers daughter.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N… Sorry for the delayed chapter, if you have been reading my other story, One Mistake, you will already be aware that I am pregnant. It came as a shock to me and my family and because of a pre-existing medical condition I have to be very cautious for the remaining few weeks. Anyway I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think, Thanks Nx**

It had been almost 2 weeks since Rachel had received the text from her dads, she was growing increasingly anxious about their impending arrival but she didn't want to burden Shelby with it.

Shelby had spoke to her lawyer several times and had consented to sending the letter to Leroy and Hiram as soon as they arrived home. Shelby wouldn't admit it but she was very scared about the mens reaction to everything that had been going on whilst they had been away, sure she would fight for Rachel as best she could and she would do anything to keep her daughter safe and with her but she had this feeling, deep inside, that Leroy and Hiram were not going to react well.

Mother and Daughter were sat at the kitchen table in comfortable silence. Rachel was going over her notes for History class as she ate her breakfast and Shelby was reading the paper and drinking her coffee. The older brunette glanced at the singer and could tell she wasn't concentrating on her work.

"Everything okay Rach?" the Glee coach asked in a curious tone of voice.

"Yeah" the shorter girl replied not bothering to look up from her book.

Shelby nodded to herself, mainly because Rachel wouldn't look up, and decided she wasn't going to force the girl to talk. She knew everything was about to come to a head and she was prepared for that knock on her door by the Berry men.

"Do you need a lift to school or is Santana taking you?" Shelby asking as she sipped her coffee.

"Can you give me a lift? Santi had an early practice with her crazy cheerleading coach today" Rachel answered with a slight roll of her eyes.

Shelby laughed at her description of Miss Sylvester, she knew just how insane that woman could be.

"Sure, Baby, I'll take you, are you ready? we've gotta leave soon" the older brunette said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I've just gotta put my shoes on" Rachel said getting off her chair and placing her plate in the sink before going off to get her shoes.

Neither of them spoke for a majority of the ride to school, just casual conversation about Glee, Santana or Cassie which Rachel was grateful for, she wasn't up for talking about her dads or the custody agreement or anything like that. Honestly Rachel couldn't wait for this whole thing to be over or she was 18 so she didn't need to live with anyone anymore. Which reminded her that it was her birthday soon and her mom hadn't even mentioned it yet.

"Mom, you do know it's my birthday soon right?" Rachel asked with a little bit of hurt in her voice.

"Really? omg I completely forgot about the day you caused me so much pain and almost ripped me in half" Shelby said sarcastically with a fake shocked expression on her face and a hand over her heart. Rachel rolled her eyes at her moms dramatics and just looked out the window.

"Of course I knew it was your birthday soon Rachel, I've been meaning to ask you what you wanted to do for it actually" the Glee coach said as she pulled in to McKinley high school.

"Anything, I really don't care, just make sure Santi is there and feel free to include Cassandra, I don't want a party or anything, so just us 4 will be sufficient" Rachel gave her mom a small smile as she got out the car and made her way towards the front doors of her school.

Shelby watched her daughter walk away and frowned slightly at her lack of enthusiasm for her birthday, she wanted it to be special, it was their first birthday together after all, well she hoped they would still be together when Rachels birthday arrived.

The tall brunette shook off her thoughts and decided to leave it alone for now and just head to work. The best person to talk to about Rachels birthday was probably going to be Santana anyway so when she got the Latina alone she would ask her what she thinks she should do.

...

Shelby had had a reasonably good day, her Glee club had worked harder today than they had been recently and she hadn't been hassled by any teenagers asking her stupid questions about their homework or assignments, so overall Shelby considered it to be a good day.

She had received a message from Rachel earlier in the day telling her that Santana was bringing her home. On her way home she drove past her daughters dads house and noticed the Mercedes-Benz in the driveway, she frowned and then remembered that they always drove a Mercedes. Fear took over and she began to panic slightly…they were back.

Rachel was sat in the living room with Santana watching some crappy TV show that Santana seemed to really enjoy.

After a few minutes she heard her mom pull in to the driveway and turned towards the door when she heard it open and smiled at the older brunette as she walked in the house. Rachel noticed how her mom was deep in thought and frowned at the woman when she didn't even notice Rachel sitting there and went straight upstairs.

"What's her problem?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your guess is as good as mine San" Rachel said with a sigh and went back to watching the awful TV show Santana was really in to.

Upstairs Shelby was on the phone to her lawyer, she wanted to know if they had received their letter yet or if she still had a little more time before her life was turned upside down.

"Yes, Shelby, we delivered the letter earlier today" Zach sounded sympathetic towards Shelby and her current predicament.

"And when you delivered it, how did they seem? were they angry? were they emotionless?" Shelby was trying her hardest to hide her current panicked state.

"I don't know Shel, I didn't deliver it personally, my assistant did it for me, but I'm sure that if they were really angry or pissed off she would have said something" the lawyer said to try and appease the brunette.

"Right, okay…" the singer was deep in thought and didn't really know what else to say.

"Listen to me Shel, you and Rachel are safe and nothing is going to happen to either of you, if they come to your house and threaten you then ring the police and then ring me, just think of it this way…if they do come to your house and make any kind of threat towards any of you, it's just more evidence in our favour" Zach told the woman on the other end of the phone.

"I guess that's true, I just hope they decide to sign the custody papers and keep it out of court for Rachels sake" the Glee coach sighed.

"Me too, for both of yours sake, now go and tell Rachel they're back because if you don't and she sees them in a store or at school she's gonna be pissed that you didn't tell her, Lima isn't a big place Shel, the likelihood of her seeing them is high" the lawyer made sense and Shelby knew it but she was dreading this conversation.

"Okay I will do, thanks Zach" Shelby said sincerely and put the phone down, she braced herself to go back downstairs and tell her daughter that her dads were back in town and were aware that she was now living with her.

...

Shelby made her way downstairs and looked at her daughter and her girlfriend on her sofa, she smiled at how happy they were together and then let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and walked towards the girls.

"Hey girls, how was school?" the older brunette asked with a smile on her face.

Both Rachel and Santana looked at each other and then turned towards Shelby with confusion on their faces.

"What?" Shelby asked when she seen the confused looks on the teenagers faces.

"Did you fall on your head today or are you just developing emotional issues?" Rachel asked her mom with a raised eyebrow.

"Again…What?" the glee coach asked.

"Well, when you came home you walked straight past me and Rach and went upstairs and now you wanna know about our day at school, you're giving us mixed signals Coach C" Santana explained with the confused look still etched on her face.

"Okay, fair enough, that wasn't exactly hospitable or motherly but I had my reasons and if you would let me explain and stop looking at me like I've just escaped from a mental hospital, you would understand" Shelby declared to the 2 teenagers in front of her, they both nodded their heads and she sat on the coffee table in front of the pair of them. She wouldn't normally do this with Santana here but she knew Rachel would tell her anyway and kicking her out would only cause conflict between herself and Rachel, she could do without that right now.

"Thank you….So on my way home I went my old route because you had text me earlier to say Santana was bringing you home, well as I drove down your dads street I noticed that their Mercedes was in the driveway, I knew it was theirs because ever since I've known them thats all they've driven, Rach… they're home and Zach has given them the letter we agreed on so they're aware of everything that's going on…. I didn't tell you as soon as I walked in because I wanted to confirm everything with Zach, I don't want you to worry about anything, you're perfectly safe here with me and I wont let anything or anyone hurt you, I can promise you that" Shelby comforted the short brunette in front of her and ran a hand through her hair.

"I know you wont let anything happen to me, but if they know can't they just come and get me? I mean it isn't like you have custody of me yet" Rachel mumbled and looked at her mom, she could tell the teacher didn't know what to say.

"I guess technically they could come and get you….but I doubt they will Rach, it will only go against the defendant during the trial, that's if they don't sign the custody papers and it ends up in front of a judge" both Rachel and Shelby turned to Santana and looked at her in complete shock, they had never heard the girl speak in legal terminology before.

"What? my dad's a Prosecutor, I hear him talk about this crap all day, every day" Santana said with a roll of her eyes.

Shelby smirked at the Latina and then turned back towards her daughter, she placed both her hands in Rachels and kissed her on the forehead.

"Do you trust me?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded her head.

"Then trust that I will not let you go with them ever again, I made a mistake all those years ago by giving you away and I won't make that same mistake again, I promise" Shelby wiped a stray tear from Rachels eye and then pulled her baby girl in for a hug.

Shelby really hoped that she could stick to that promise, the last thing she needed right now was her daughter thinking she was a liar, but she knew she'd fight for Rachel as best she could.

...

Later that evening Shelby had text Cassie and asked her to come round for a drink whilst Rachel spent some time in her room doing her homework and rehearsing the songs she would be performing for Glee. Of course Cassandra had agreed to come over and was currently listening to Shelby panic about the Berry's and what they may or may not do.

"…I mean what if they just turn up at my door step in the middle of the night and snatch Rach out of her bed, I'd be none the wiser because obviously I would also be asleep and it's not like I can just ring the police and say my daughters been stolen because technically she's still their daughter and legally I have no rights…"

Cassie was staring at the woman in front of her like she was insane, of course Shelby was unaware of this look because she was focused on her rant and wasn't paying any attention to the world around her. Eventually the blonde dancer rolled her eyes at the dramatics in front of her and decided it was time to shut Shelby up because she caused herself to have a heart attack or something.

"Okay, that's it, Shelby shut up" Cassie raised her hand in front of the singers face and watched Shelby's expression turn in to complete shock.

"Excuse me?" Shelby said in a very unamused tone of voice and looked at Cassie with that raised eyebrow she enjoyed freaking people out with.

"Listen to me Shel and listen carefully, these men aren't going to break in to your house and kidnap Rachel…" Cassie reached out and grabbed Shelbys hands as she spoke and stroked the back of her hands with her thumb.

"…they aren't going to do anything stupid like that because they know it will only work in your favour in the end anyway. Shelby you are so much stronger than you're acting right now and I think deep down you know all the theories you're currently making up aren't going to come true. You are the strongest, wisest and most fearless woman I have ever met and I know that you will not go down without a fight so please, Shel….stop doubting yourself and accept that one day very soon you will legally be that girls mother and you'll be making her life hell until she turns 18" Cassie smirked at the coach and wiped away a stray tear off her cheek.

Shelby looked in to beautiful blue eyes and smiled before leaning in towards the blondes lips and planting a soft kiss on them.

"Thank you Cass" the tall brunette whispered against the lips she just kissed.

"No problem Corcoran" Cassandra said with a wink and a smile.

Shelby looked in to Cassie's eyes, she ran a hand through blonde hair then leaned against the dancers ear before whispering in to it.

"Don't ever tell me to shut up again, it will not be greatly received next time" Shelby pulled away from the blonde and stood up off the sofa, she grabbed her glass and the empty bottle of wine and made her way over to the kitchen leaving Cassie to process what just happened and watch her walk away.

"Damn, she still knows how to play me" Cassandra mumbled to herself and took another sip of her wine, still staring at the woman's back in the kitchen.

Shelby turned around and smirked at the way Cassie was currently staring at her but said nothing and started making her way towards the spiral staircase.

"I'm going to go check on Rachel and make sure she isn't texting Santana rather than studying" Shelby said and made her way upstairs towards her daughters room. As she opened the door she couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. Rachel had fallen asleep on top of her bed with her homework scattered around the room. The tall brunette collected up all the sheets of paper and placed them on the side, she grabbed a blanket off the chair in Rachel's room and placed it over her daughter. After kissing the top of the girls head Shelby turned off the light and made her way back downstairs.

"Turns out she wasn't doing either, seems she fell asleep halfway through her homework" Shelby said with a smile on her face as she made her way over to the fridge.

Cassie made her way over to the kitchen to join Shelby and creeped up behind her planting a kiss to the brunettes neck and placing her hands on her waist.

"Just because my daughter's asleep does not mean you get laid" Shelby laughed and turned in the dancers arms. The singer bit back a moan when she felt Cassie run her hands over her ass and pull her closer.

"I never said I was getting laid, but now that you mention it that seems like a good way to relieve you of some stress and take your mind off things" Cassie smirked at the coach and then continued to kiss the woman's neck, being careful not to leave any marks.

"I suppose it would be a good stress reliever and I am very stressed out" Shelby said as her lover began running her hands up the singers bare back and then unhooked her bra with one hand. The blonde then pulled away slightly to pull the t-shirt Shelby way wearing up and over her head, she threw it somewhere in the kitchen before pulling the bra she had just undone off the brunettes body.

Cassie caught the coaches lips with her own and ran her hands over her lovers chest, causing the woman to moan loudly.

"Cass…please"

Cassie grabbed Shelby by the waist and lifted her up, she then placed her on the kitchen counter and started kissing her way down the woman's body, she made sure she lingered when she reached the brunettes chest and then again when she reached the top of her jeans.

The blonde undid her lovers jeans and pulled them off when Shelby lifted her hips with a smirk on her face. Shelby leaned forwards and unbuttoned Cassies shirt, she pulled it down and off and was surprised by the blondes lack of a bra. She pulled the dancer towards her and pressed their lips together, Shelby undid the button on the blondes jeans and pushed them down leaving the both of them in just their panties.

Shelby jumped off the kitchen side and Cassie kicked off her jeans and they both made their way over to the couch. Shelby laid down first and pulled the blonde on top of her, Cassie leaned down and started kissing the brunette, moving her hands towards the lace panties that covered the woman's most private area. Shelby lifted her hips to give the woman on top of her easier access and the dancer pulled them off in one swift motion. Cassandra started kissing her way down her lovers body until she reached Shelbys wet heat, she placed a soft kiss to it and heard the singer moan.

"Please Cass, stop…teasing…me"

Cassie smirked up at the brunette and pulled away from her, leaving Shelby very confused and slightly annoyed.

Shelby watched as Cassie stood up and pulled her own panties down and off. She then climbed back on top of Shelby and began kissing her again, whilst they kissed Cassie started moving on top of Shelby causing the singer to grab the woman's hips and pull her as close as possible.

"Don't stop Cass" Shelby panted when she finally came up for air.

Cassie was near the edge and she knew Shelby was too, so she started moving faster and harder against the woman underneath her.

"Oh, god, Shelb" Cassie moaned in to the brunettes ear.

Shelby moved her hands to the woman's ass and wrapped her legs around her waist, making sure that they were as close as possible.

Moving as hard and as fast as they both possibly could against one another they both came together, Moaning and panting as they did so.

Shelby played with the blonde hair that was on top of her and Cassie ran a finger down the brunettes torso.

"If you run that finger any lower we'll be doing this over again" Shelby laughed.

"That wouldn't be too bad" Cassie smiled and ran her finger slightly lower just to tease the singer.

"I don't think I have enough energy for another session" Shelby said as she climbed out from under Cassie and grabbed her lovers panties and threw them at her.

Cassie laughed and started getting herself dressed as she watched Shelby do the same thing.

Once they were both dressed, Shelby walked over to Cassie and placed her hands round the blondes waist and leaned her head against her chest.

"Thank you for tonight Cassie" Shelby looked up at the dancer and smiled.

"Anytime my love" Cassie replied and placed a kiss to the woman's head.

"I don't just mean the sex either Cass, I mean for everything, being there for me, shutting me up when I was becoming neurotic, the advice and obviously the sex as well" Shelby winked at the blonde and giggled.

"I'll always be there for you Shel, for everything, advice, your crazy behaviour and of course…Sex" Cassie laughed and pulled away from the singer and pulled her over to the couch, they sat cuddled against each other for a while until Shelby fell asleep. Cassie grabbed a blanket that was close by and covered them both with it before falling asleep herself.


End file.
